Shades of Emerald
by EmrysTheMerlin
Summary: Izumi Midoriya was told at a young age that she would never have a quirk, that she could never be a hero. But that changes after she meets her long time hero All Might and learns his secret. With a newly acquired quirk that she has only the barest control of Izumi begins her days at the hero academy UA. Love, loss and enemies wait for her, can she survive the school year?
1. The Strategist

Shades of Emerald 

**Authors Note: I know I already have a my hero AU. But I had an idea for another one. They are in no way connected. I own nothing**.

The Strategist

Landing with a thump on her back Izumi scrambled back to her feet as soon as Asui's tongue had released her. Mineta slammed down next to her, maybe a bit harder than was strictly necessary. Asui climbed her way up the side of the boat and hopped onto the deck.

"This is turning out to be a horrible day of class." Izumi nodded at Asui. A short talk later Izumi and Asui were drowned out by Mineta's screams as the villains in the water began to circle the boat.

"We need to think. Since the alarms aren't sounding we have to assume no one at UA knows what's happening. If they really do have a way to kill All Might we have to stop them here. We have to be heroes." Mineta was still crying but Asui nodded.

"Something about this doesn't make any sense though." Izumi muttered almost to herself.

"What's that?" Izumi went pink.

"Was I muttering again? Sorry." Asui rolled her eyes.

"It's fine Midoriya, what about this doesn't make sense? Kero." Izumi rubbed the back of her neck.

"Right. Well these villains have obviously been planning this carefully. They used the media invasion of UA as a diversion to get the schedule, at least that's what seems the most likely. But it doesn't make sense that they sent you here Asui." Izumi's pink cheeks went bright red as Asui frowned. "Sorry I mean Tsu. It doesn't make sense that they sent you here. Tsu." Asui let out a small nervous laugh.

"That kind of fell apart on you didn't it?"

"A little bit." Izumi said trying to resist the urge to hide her face in her hands. Both girls were distracted when Mineta shrieked next to them. He was still crying.

"What does it matter that they sent her here?"

"Well," Izumi said rubbing her ear. "It means that they don't know what our quirks are. It would make no sense for them to send Tsu to a place full of water if they knew she's a frog." The other two nodded.

The ship was going down, and they were going down with it. Izumi glanced over the side of the deck and spotted the villains avoiding the balls Mineta had thrown. It was like a lightbulb went off in her head. She turned to the others.

"I have an idea."

The plan went off without a hitch, and Izumi only broke her finger and thumb. Now they had to figure out what to do next. The large mass of villains had gone flying, sticking by the balls Mineta had thrown to a rock nearby the shipwreck zone. Izumi flinched as her finger and thumb throbbed. Asui tore off part of Mineta's cape and used it to wrap her fingers.

Asui had issues fathoming this classmate of hers. Izumi Midoriya, Deku to her friends and Bakugou, was small, a slim figure barely reaching five feet in height. Her long unruly green curls seemed to be different shades of green depending on the light. If Asui didn't know that she could wreck buildings with a flick of her finger she would never have guessed this girl could posses this much power. Nor that she had so much knowledge of heroes and battle strategy. Her plan had saved their lives.

"Thanks Tsu. We should follow the shore, if we do that we should be able to avoid the central plaza where Mr. Aizawa is fighting. But…"

Asui still wasn't sure how that small exchange had led to them to the edge of the pool closest to the fight happening between Aizawa and the villains. They were ducked down in the water, unable to help as Aizawa was beaten, bleeding in the center of the USJ. Asui could see Midoriya shaking but if it was with rage or fear she couldn't tell.

Everything slowed down as the villain who'd wrecked Mr. Aizawa's elbow, disintegrating his shirt and flesh alike, reach for Tsu. Izumi didn't think she just reacted.

"Let her go! Smash!" She slammed her fist into something solid as shockwaves of power blasted out from where she'd made contact. Villains feet away were blasted off their feet and the lights that surrounded the USJ shattered on the shipwreck side of the dome. It took Izumi a minute to realize that her arm hadn't broken, but in that moment she realized she had bigger problems as it wasn't the villain, what had the warp villain called him, Tomura Shigaraki, that she'd hit at all but the large thing with the exposed brain.

"Let her go!" The call echoed around the USJ and Todorki paused before switching directions and racing out of the landslide zone out towards the central plaza. A shockwave of power blew off from the water across the central plaza, shattering lights and sending villains flying. By the time it reached him it was a simple breeze but that kind of power could only mean one person. The same one who'd called out, Midoriya. He picked up his pace, passing passed out villains, clearly beaten by Mr. Aizawa. He'd reached the entrance to the collapse zone before something made him stop. It was Kirishima and Bakugou blasting their way out of the collapse zone. A few seconds later the doors were blasted open as All Might arrived.

Bakugou's heart nearly stopped when he realized what was happening. Deku had leapt at the villain who was rushing at All Might. Her legs looked like they had broken, and she had her still gloved hand pulled back to deliver a blow that she was never going to get the chance to land. The warp villain had stepped between them and now there was a hand inches from Deku's face, she let out a surprised squeak and All Might jerked forwards. Bakugou wasn't sure even he would be fast enough to save her now.

The shot rang through the USJ silencing every other sound as a bullet flew through the villains hand, passing centimeters in front of Izumi's nose. Without the use of her legs to break her fall she skidded to a halt on the concrete floor just a few feet away from All Might as the villains retreated at the arrival of the other teachers.

The fight was over, the villains had retreated. Todoroki bent down and picked something up off the floor as Kirishima made his way over to them telling them what Cementos had told him, that they were to regroup with the other students. He stood back up and looked back over at the wall Cementos had put up. Kirishima raised an eyebrow at him.

"What's wrong Todoroki?" Todoroki shrugged and held out the item he'd picked up. It was a small blue barrette. It had the yellow silhouette of All Might attached to it nestled in a small red bow. It was usually found in Midoriya's hair.

"It must have fallen out when she leapt to help All Might." Kirishima nodded grinning.

"Nice of you to return it to her. Cementos says we should join up with the others. I bet you'll be able to give it back to her later." Todoroki nodded and slipped the barrette into one of the pouches on his costume. He would give it to her tomorrow, he doubted he'd see her later today, this whole incident was likely to cause a large scale police investigation. The whole class would be busy today answering questions. He took one last look over his shoulder at the wall then followed Bakugou and Kirishima out of the USJ.


	2. Returned

**Authors Note: I did not expect many people to like this one. But hey I like it so we continue. I have no shipping plans, feel free to suggest in the comments but I will only ship one in the end. But I will take suggestions into consideration. I own nothing. **

Returned

Todoroki didn't get a chance to return the barrette the next day. Classes were canceled. All students were instructed to stay home, away from trouble, to rest. Classes were to resume the next day. He had slipped the barrette from the pouch on his costume to the pocket of his uniform jacket. His father wasn't home the next day. Most of the big time heroes were scouring the city for any sign of the League of Villains. The others were at UA strengthening its security and trying to find the hole the villains had gotten through in the first place. His sister had offered to do the laundry, his brother was working on his own studies so Shoto focused on the homework they'd been set before the attack. His sister knocked on his door after some time.

"Come in." She smiled as he closed his notebook and turned his attention to her.

"I'm glad you're alright." He nodded the ghost of a smile on his lips. His sister continued. "I found something in the pocket of your blazer. Um…" She held out her hand, in it rested a blue barrette adorned with a red ribbon and the small silhouette of All Might's face in yellow. Shoto nodded.

"It's not mine." Fuyumi raised an eyebrow and laughed slightly.

"I didn't think it was yours Shoto. I was wondering whose it was."

"My classmate, Izumi Midoriya." His sister's still raised eyebrow pushed Shoto to continue. "She dropped it, well it fell from her hair, during the attack on the USJ. I haven't had an opportunity to give it back to her." Fuyumi smiled.

"Oh well I hope you do." Fuyumi handed him the barrette and turned to leave. Before she did she paused at the door. " You know you can talk to me about anything right?" Shoto nodded slowly. "You'll tell me if you end up with a sweetheart in your class right?" Shoto furrowed his brow.

"I don't see that happening. I have other things to focus on." He turned back to his notes setting the barrette neatly next to his bag. Fuyumi's smile turned slightly sad. She nodded though.

"Dinner is at seven." Shoto nodded.

"Thank you." Fuyumi nodded and left him alone. Later after dinner, when he had settled down to study, he found himself looking at the barrette. He had never seen Midoriya without it. She even wore it under her hero costume. He wondered if she would still do so after everything that had happened. She probably thought she'd lost it for good after everything that had happened.

Across town the barrette was indeed being missed. Izumi kept having to push her hair back behind her ear much to her frustration She was sure though that the barrette had met a watery demise at the bottom of the shipwreck zone in the USJ. She couldn't for the life of her think of where else it could be.

After Cementos had rescued her and All Might from the awkward situation that would have arisen from Kirishima discovering the truth they had both been whisked off by several of the other teachers. Out a back entrance to the USJ and into what had turned out to be Midnight's car. The hero had driven them both back to the school and spirited them inside to the caring hands of Recovery Girl without anyone seeing anything. It hadn't been until later, while talking with All Might in the infirmary that Izumi had even noticed it was missing. She finally gave up and asked her mother to braid her hair. They spent a pleasant evening fixing each other's hair and talking about anything but classes, anything but UA.

The attack had spooked Inko Midoriya. It had spooked a lot of parents, the whole city was on pins and needles after the blatant attack against not only the symbol of peace but the children who would be the next generation of heroes. Everyone was walking on eggshells now.

The next day everyone was desperate to get everything back to normal. Security around UA had been beefed up but with her student ID she had no troubles. She grinned at Iida and Uraraka as she entered the classroom but someone tapped her on the shoulder before she could reach her friends. She turned and looked up into Todoroki's eyes, one blue the other grey. She blinked, she didn't think she'd ever been this close to the boy before.

"Oh, hello Todoroki." He held out his hand, and opened his fist. Izumi's face lit up with a grin. "My lucky barrette! I thought I lost this!" She grinned as she took it from Todoroki's proffered hand. "Thank you so much!" He nodded. She grinned at him again. "I thought it was at the bottom of the shipwreck zone."

"No." Todoroki shook his head. "It must have fallen off when you leapt off to help All Might. I found it on the ground as we were leaving the USJ." Izumi frowned.

"Wait, how did you know it was mine?"

"You always wear it. Always on the left side of your hair. I've never seen you take it off." Izumi blinked at him again, her face going cherry red as that one pesky section of messy green hair fell from behind her left ear and into her face.

"Thank you." She said, though her voice had gone small. Todoroki nodded and stepped away from her towards his seat. It was only then that Izumi noticed the rest of the class was in the room and all the girls were staring at her. Her face went from cherry red to the shade of a tomato in seconds and she bumbled her way to her seat brushing her hair back and securing it with the barrette as Uraraka bounced over to her looking exceedingly curious.


	3. Misinformed

**Authors Note: I will be doing some of the bigger moments from later on in the series but right now I am just rolling with what pops into my head. I own nothing.**

Misinformed 

Izumi was a bit perplexed when the other girls approached her a few days before the sports festival. They dragged her away from her study session with Iida with barely an explanation. Ashido and Hagakure led the charge to the locker room where they all gathered around Yaoyarozu and Jiro who explained what they had been told. That each year's girls would be cheering.

"That's weird, I don't remember that at any of the other Sports Festivals I've watched. I mean there were always cheerleaders but…" Izumi frowned. "Come to think of it I don't know which year the cheerleaders were in. So I guess it makes sense." She trailed off into her usual mumbling speak. Yaoyarozu shook her head and pulled a bag from her locker.

"We have to make sure the ones I made fit you all." She and Jiro began handing out the outfits and the girls began to change into them. Some small adjustments had to be made but for the most part Yaoyarozu had guessed the sizes perfectly. Izumi had just finished when Ashido turned and let out a whistle.

"Who knew Midoriya was ripped!" Izumi went bright red as the other girls turned to her. Yaoyarozu nodded.

"She would have to be for her quirk. It's a kind of super strength right? Like All Might's." Izumi twitched trying desperately to hide her embarrassment behind her hands. Yaoyarozu stepped up to Izumi and gently took her hands, peeling them away from her face.

"Why are you embarrassed? It's just us here, you can talk to us." The other girls nodded, looks of concern on every face. Uraraka sat down next to her.

"Well…" Izumi let her hands be peeled away from her face which was still bright red. "It's just that… Well I was never… I just…" Izumi floundered. She wasn't sure how to put it in a way that wouldn't give away her secret, that for most of her life, up until the day of the entrance exam she had been quirkless and as such had always been the butt of every joke. She had always been plain and none of her old schoolmates had ever let her forget it. They had called her names and picked at every aspect of her appearance. There were days when their words still echoed in her head until she couldn't look at herself in a mirror. She made a split second decision.

"My old school, my classmates always made fun of me for being plain. It…"

"It gets to you after a while." Izumi looked up at her. "Before I got my quirk, and even sometimes after a lot of people would make fun of me. Because I wasn't as well off as most of them." Ashido ran a hand through her hair.

"They hated my eyes in middle school, they called me scary." All the girls were nodding each looking like they were remembering some slight against them in their earlier days. Hagakure was the first to speak back up.

"Um I know we're all trying for the top spot, to be the best hero. But… I think we should all agree not to cut each other down. I mean…" She trailed off losing either courage or words Izumi couldn't be sure but she nodded.

"I think Hagakure is right. We should all agree that we won't, we won't do that to each other. Heroes should lift others up, not put them down." The other girls smiled and each in turn put their hand in the center of the space between them. With a grin on each face they agreed and broke the circle.

"Personally I think you look nice Midoriya. You're super powerful too! I bet you'll be beating of boys with a stick after the Sports Festival." Izumi snorted and shook her head.

"Somehow I doubt that." The girls all laughed and began to change back into their regular clothes.

None of them figured out they had been tricked until it was far too late. Izumi was the color of a tomato as Jiro threw down her pom poms. Hagakure, ever the optimist, suggested that they make the best of it and keep cheering on their classmates but Izumi was feeling twitchy. She was fighting the first fight of the tournament. Against an opponent she knew basically nothing about.

"Would you mind if I sat out? I need to get ready for my fight." The other girls nodded and Izumi sighed in relief and exited the field, there were two people at the entrance and s she slipped past them Todoroki looked her square in the face and those heterochromatic eyes seemed to bore into her soul.

"Win your fight Midoriya. We have unfinished business to finish when I fight you." Izumi blinked and Ojiro, the other figure who'd been waiting for her, looked nervous and slightly confused. But before he could speak they were interrupted by Izumi's opponent.

"Nice skirt. One of your classmate's tricked you all into cheerleader outfits?" Izumi opened her mouth to speak to the purple haired youth but before she could get a word out she found Ojiro's tail inches from her mouth.

"Don't talk to him." Izumi frowned but the grin the other boy shot their way was nearly explanation enough and had Izumi holding her tongue. Shinsou smiled and spoke again.

"I look forward to our fight." With that he too walked away and Izumi turned to Ojiro her confusion written on her face. He nodded and began to explain what had happened when he'd responded to Shinsou's question.


	4. Bunny

**Authors Note: So I wanted to do something a bit different. But anyway here we go. I own nothing. **

Bunny

The general studies class had ended a bit early that day. Most of the class was heading to either the library or out of campus but a few of the bolder ones headed over to Shinsou who was still reading at his desk.

"Hey Shinsou, we were gonna go see if the hero course students are still training. Wanna come along?" Shinsou raised an eyebrow lowering his book.

"Why?" It took the small group a moment to answer. He wasn't sure if it was because they were still wary of his quirk or because they didn't want to tell him the real reason. The only other boy in the group was the one who finally answered.

"I mean we've never seen the hero course in their costumes. I wanna check it out!" Shinsou snorted derisively. But after a few more seconds he shrugged.

"Why not." He followed the others at a slight distance. They weren't doing anything against the rules, as long as they didn't enter the training grounds they would be fine. As it turned out they didn't have to even try to sneak a peek. They 1-A hero course students were heading out of the training ground as the small group of general studies students made it around the corner near the entrance. They all paused hanging back slightly.

Shinsou had to admit that many of the class looked better in their hero costumes than in just the UA gym uniform. Some of them looked almost impressive, others not so much. He didn't remember all of their names but he did remember most of their quirks from what he'd seen at the sports festival. He scoffed slightly at Katsuki Bakugou, his costume included giant grenades wrapped around his hands like gauntlets. But then a flash of green caught his eye. The would be hero was talking animatedly to the girl with gravity powers, the blue haired boy behind the two girls nodding along every so often. Her costume was almost entirely green, save for a red belt and red sneakers. A mouthpiece sat in its place at the base of her mask but it was the two things that stuck up at the top of her mask. The girls in the group of general education students were gushing over the outfits. The boy turned to Shinsou then turned quickly to look at what he was staring at. He raised an eyebrow.

"I wonder which student that is…" He trialed off as the girl in question pulled her mask off and shook her head slightly at something the blue haired boy had said. "Isn't that the girl who beat you in the sports festival?" Shinsou nodded.

"It is. She looks like a bunny with her mask up." He watched her head to the girls locker room and turned, walking away from the other general studies students. He had work to do after all. There was no time to be thinking about Izumi Midoriya when he had training he had to do. He was still dead set on getting into the hero course after all.

Izumi was bouncing with excitement. She'd finally had the opportunity to work with Iida today and it had been a learning experience. For both of them apparently. It had been a rescue day, each set of teams had a set number of trapped civilians to rescue and a set amount of time to do it in. She and Iida had broken the record for fastest recovery of civilians that day as Thirteen was pleased to tell them. She also hadn't broken anything. She hadn't needed to activated One for All at all. They had gone about the process of rescuing simply enough, Iida found one, dropped Izumi off to retrieve them with her strength and raced off to find the next. Izumi was sure that if Uraraka hadn't had the misfortune to be teamed up with Mineta who wasn't very helpful, choosing to spend most of the exercise commenting on Uraraka's costume and the fact that he was working with a cute girl, she would have beaten their rescue time. But as it was she was rather pleased with the outcome of the day. She had training with All Might later that day in one of the other training grounds and she was excited but she wouldn't need her hero costume for that so she went with the other girls to change. Hagakure spoke up as Jiro kept watch for Mineta who had tried to break into the girls locker room before.

"Hey Midoriya has anyone told you that the cowl on your costume kind of looks like bunny ears?" Izumi went bright pink.

"No…" She looked at her costume and frowned slightly. Then she laughed. "I guess it kind of does." Hagakure bounced, though this was only visible because she was back in her regular uniform.

"I think it's so cute!" Izumi smiled and tapped Jiro on the shoulder. It was her turn to keep watch since she'd finished changing. Jiro nodded and they switched spots. Izumi nodded slightly to Hagakure who'd joined her. "Are bunnies your favorite animal?" Izumi thought for a moment then shook her head.

"I think I like cats better. Bunnies are cute though." They fell into friendly conversation as the other girls finished changing and as one the group headed out.


	5. The Conundrum

**Authors Note: Got some ideas. I own nothing. **

The Conundrum 

Shoto Todoroki walked out of the hospital a small smile on his face. It had gone so much better than he'd let himself hope. His mother had hugged him and he'd felt truly warm for the first time in years. She still loved him, after everything that had happened, she still cared for him. He let himself smile a bit wider. He didn't feel like going home just yet. He was in too good a mood to put up with the lecture he knew would be waiting for him once Endeavor returned home. So instead he decided he would take a walk. After a while he heard a familiar voice.

"It's fine Uraraka I promise."

"But can you even carry your bag with your arms all messed up like that?" Todoroki followed the voices around a corner and found Uraraka and Midoriya standing in front of an apartment building. Two people were coming down the stairs of the building. Uraraka's parents if Todoroki had to guess by the brown hair.

"I'll be fine Uraraka. I can make it home. I just hope Iida is ok." The girls shared a dark look overflowing with concern for their friend and Todoroki frowned as an emotion flared in his chest. He wasn't sure exactly what it was. Protectiveness? Maybe… It felt a bit more bitter than that. Jealousy maybe? But why would he be jealous? He pushed the notion aside for the moment and stepped forwards clearing his throat so the girls knew he was coming. He seemed to have had the right idea in doing so as Midoriya jumped and slipped slightly nearly tumbling backwards. Despite Uraraka being closer Todoroki got there first. He deftly caught her by her shoulders and gently righted her.

She was still wearing the bandages she'd gotten from recovery girl. Her left leg was bandaged to the knee. She was back in their regular school uniform except the top was different. It was a strapless black number, he could see bandages peeking out of the top of it. Her jacket covered her shoulders but both of her arms were still heavily bandaged though her right was finally free of the sling and her hand on that side was free.

"Sorry for startling you." Izumi had gone pink but she shook her head.

"No, I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting to see you here Todoroki."

"Yeah! I haven't seen you around here before Todoroki. Congrats on placing second in the festival." He nodded to Uraraka and took Midoriya's bag from her to the surprise of both of them. The adults were getting closer.

"Oh, you don't have to do that Todoroki. I can get that." Todoroki looked at Midoriya's bandaged arms and raised an eyebrow. She blushed a little darker. Uraraka's parents were nearly upon them. Uraraka pulled Midoriya into a quick light hug. Todoroki nodded to Uraraka who waved and turned to meet her parents.

"I'll see you guys at school ok!" Todoroki nodded again and Midoriya grinned.

"You bet!" The two of them left quickly, not wanting to interrupt the moment happening behind them. A few blocks away Midoriya spoke again. "Um I really can carry my own bag Todoroki. I have a ways to go to get home." Todoroki stopped and turned to look at her.

"I would like to walk you home. I don't doubt that you would carry your own bag, even with your extensive injuries but… I would like to help you." He floundered slightly for a reason to walk her home. In truth he felt sort of bad. "You're injured because of how hard you fought in our match. A real hero would help." There was silence for a moment. He wasn't sure of himself here. If she insisted he would probably hand over her bag and apologize. But she didn't.

"I appreciate it Todoroki." He let himself have the barest glimmer of a smile as they started walking again. They were silent for a time as Midoriya navigated the street with the surety of someone who had done this quite a few times before. Looking at Midoriya he couldn't quite tell what she was thinking. So, he took it upon himself to break the silence.

"I wanted to… I wanted to thank you Midoriya." She looked up at him, confusion written in her bright green eyes. "I… I remembered some very important things because of you. Because of what you said to me during our match. I remembered why I want to be a hero, not why he wants me to be one." He could tell they both knew exactly who he was referring to. She nodded slightly.

"I was hoping that was the case. That's why you didn't use your fire on Kacchan right? Because he wanted you to fight him as a test of who would be more powerful, who could destroy the other." Todoroki nodded slightly.

"Why did you cheer me on during that fight? You could have sided with Bakugou, but you didn't." Midoriya let out a small laugh that didn't quite sound happy. Todoroki frowned. "Thinking about it I don't know your relationship with Bakugou at all. I haven't been paying the best attention to my classmates." He said it like it surprised him.

"You've been focused on other things." She paused. "Kacchan and I have a… complicated relationship. We were friends when we were kids but." She paused again but this one was different, like she was searching for a reason. "But he got teased for hanging out with a girl and now we're sort of rivals I guess." She spoke quickly, as if covering for her momentary silence, her face heating up again.

"I see." They fell silent again for a few minutes as they passed through another neighborhood. "Do you always walk Uraraka home?" Midoriya shrugged.

"Sometimes. Usually when we do Iida is with us too." Todoroki nodded.

"Midnight said he had been called away because of family business." The look of Midoriya's face darkened and Todoroki frowned. "Is he alright?" It felt sort of odd to be asking about his classmates like this. He really hadn't taken much of an interest in them up till now. He regretted that, he saw that now.

"I hope so. I don't know much and what he shared I don't think he'd want spread around. He only told me and Uraraka after all." She took another step and flinched slightly. He paused, all thought of Iida flying out of his mind for the moment.

"Are you alright?" She nodded slightly, her smile edging on a grimace as she picked her foot back up and gently flexed her ankle up and down.

"I'll be ok. My foot's been broken worse than this before." Todoroki's frown deepened.

"You hurt yourself so badly. Why did you do that? I understand you wanted to win the fight but… You didn't have to go this far." Izumi had stopped completely and they were eye to eye. Almost without of thinking about it he reached out and touched her right hand. He almost flinched back when he felt the distinct feel of scar tissue. He bought her hand up between them. There were two brand new, still quite pink, scars on her hand. One wrapped around the outside of her hand a few inches under her pinky finger. The other was smaller siting less than half an inch above her thumb and wrapping around to her palm like the other. Her fingers were slightly crooked too, from all the breaks she'd put them through. His frown deepened again. Her fingers twitched in his.

"I'm fine Todoroki." His fingers frosted under hers a slight frost covering her fingers for an instant before her body heat melted it.

"Please don't hurt yourself for me again." He said it quietly, she almost didn't hear him. But she paused. Her hand still in his, cooled by his quirk.

"I can't promise that Todoroki." He looked up into her eyes and they held that same spark he'd seen in her eyes on the battlefield, a light he saw in All Might's eyes. "I'm sorry, but if I promise that I… well after what happened at the USJ I realized something. I don't care if I get hurt if I'm saving someone." Todoroki's fingers tightened on her fingers for a moment.

"Then promise you won't hurt yourself for me unless it's to save someone." Midoriya lit up with a smile at the compromise. She nodded and they continued down the street. The silence this time was more companionable than awkward. Midoriya stopped at another apartment building.

"This is me." It was then they both realized he'd never let go of her hand, that they had walked to her home hand in hand. Midoriya went bright red. Todoroki dropped her hand and apologized softly.

"I would like to walk you to the door if you don't mind." Her blush darkened but after a moment she nodded. They headed into the building and to a door marked with her last name. Izumi barely tapped on the door when it flew open, revealing a short plump woman with the same green hair as Izumi, though the woman's lacked the flyaway appearance of her daughter's. Izumi was wrapped in a hug as the woman gushed and sniffled about watching all of the festival on TV. Then she spotted Todoroki and her words stopped and she let go of her daughter who grinned slightly, a prominent blush making her smattering of freckles stick out further.

"Mom this is Shoto Todoroki, he's a classmate of mine. He walked me home. Todoroki this is my mom, Inko Midoriya." Todoroki bowed slightly and held out Izumi's bag.

"You have raised a wonderful person Mrs. Midoriya." Inko's face went from confusion to calculation to a giant smile in seconds.

"Would you like to come in for some tea Todoroki, or you could stay for dinner?" Todoroki shook his head.

"I'm sorry I have to get home, but thank you for the offer." He bowed again. "It was lovely to meet you." He turned to Izumi. "I'll see you at school Midoriya." He bowed again and she nodded and smiled at him awkwardly bowing back. He headed back outside and pulled out his phone routing his GPS back to his house he began to make his way home. He wasn't sure he understood her completely, her reasons for wanting to be a hero, her reckless nature, her deep set connection to All Might. But he knew without a doubt he wanted to find out more about Izumi Midoriya, the girl who'd reminded him of the reason he wanted to be a hero. Not because Endeavor wanted him to be but to protect people, save them from people like his father.


	6. Problem Child

**Authors Note: I know we all live for Dadmight, but I adore Dadzawa too. So here we go. I own nothing. **

Problem Child

All Might knew he was in trouble when Aizawa gave him the look at the end of the first day of classes. It was a look that spoke of retribution and chastisement at the very least if not bloody and vicious murder. After all the students were safely off the premises All Might hid away in his office in hopes of avoiding Aizawa's wrath, but there was no avoiding it, as Aizawa opened the door to his office and closed it behind him, clicking the lock into place. He was holding a folder and his eyes were narrowed. He slapped the folder down on the desk and Izumi Midoriya's nervous face looked back at All Might. Aizawa took a deep breath.

"Why her?" All Might's eyes flicked up to Aizawa's face and he coughed, a small amount of blood painting his lips as he let his fully powered form slip away from him. The UA teachers knew. It had been necessary to allow him a position here, to allow him to choose and train his successor. To eventually retire from his place as the Symbol of Peace. Aizawa sat down in the chair opposite All Might, clearly still waiting for an answer. All Might sighed.

"When I first met her, she was dying." Aizawa raised an eyebrow, his curiosity almost overriding the fire in his eyes. All might continued. "I had been following a villain, a man made of living slime. The same one that later attacked young Bakugou causing some significant damage to a main street." Aizawa nodded. "When I found the villain he was wrapped around her to the point where I could barely see her at all. Just her eyes slipping closed. I got it off of her but she was unconscious by that point. For a minute I thought she was dead." There was a very pregnant pause.

"While I waited for her to wake up, once I was sure she would, I picked up her fallen bag. She had a notebook, I don't know if you've seen it yet. It's charred, with writing on the front." Aizawa motioned for him to continue. "I took a look in the notebook. It's filled with observations on heroes. Quirk usage notes, possible drawbacks, time limits, strategies, it's quite impressive really. But when she woke up. She asked me if she could still be a hero without a quirk." Aizawa's eyes widened in sudden realization, as if a puzzle piece he'd been missing had dropped into his lap.

"So she was quirkless before meeting you." All Might nodded.

"I told her she couldn't be a hero. I told her to give up her dream." Aizawa's eyebrows knit together but he didn't interrupt. "She didn't listen, begged me to explain. She ended up seeing me like this." He gestured to his small much more skeletal form. "I had to explain what happened five years ago. We went out separate ways, or so I thought. It turned out we were headed in the same direction. We both ran into the sludge villain after it had taken young Bakugou. She leapt out to fight it without a power. I saw her throw her backpack at the sludge monster and rush it, knowing that she had no powers, all she wanted to do was help." Aizawa nodded slightly, the fire in his eyes dimming.

"I saw myself in her. In her resolve. In her need to care for others. In her determination to do what was right no matter what. Her personal hero had told her not an hour before that she couldn't be a hero, that there was no way it could happen. But she tried anyway. There are days… days she reminds me of Nana." Aizawa frowned slightly, it wasn't often Toshinori spoke about his mentor. "They both have that determination in them." Aizawa nodded.

"She's determined, that's true enough. But she lacks control. She broke her finger during the physical tests. Just her finger. But she scored the same as Bakugou on that test. Only one person tested better than them on that test. And that was Uraraka." All Might nodded slightly.

"It's understandable. She's only had her quirk since the day of the entrance exam." Aizawa bristled.

"You gave her your quirk the day of the exam! It's no wonder she's been breaking bones! She has next to no control of it! You need to work with her." Aizawa stood up. "She's going to end up this years problem child if she's not careful." All Might flinched, he knew how Aizawa treated problem children. He had been known to expel whole classes before after all. Aizawa left the folder with All Might, he would need to know just how much training the girl would need. He stalked out of the room shaking his head.


	7. What Could Have Been

**Authors Note: So this was requested of me by a frequent reader and it brewed in my brain into this. So here we are. I own nothing. **

What Could Have Been

A smile crossed his face as his daughter bounced up to him from where she'd been chatting with her mother. Forest green hair curled around her small form already so long, she hated getting her hair cut. Bright green eyes sparkled at him as she grabbed hold of his pant leg.

"Papa! I know what I want to be when I grow up!" He smiled wider scooping her up into his arms.

"Oh? You're only three little Izu, don't grow up so fast on me. Your Papa can't handle his baby girl growing up so fast." Izumi giggled as he lightly tickled her, stepping over to Inko and pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"No, but I already know what I want to be!" He held up a finger to her lips, she pouted but obeyed.

"Let me guess. You want to be a nurse like your mother?" Izumi shook her head looking excited at the prospect of a guessing game.

"Nope!" She bounced a little in his arms, he suppressed a laugh.

"Hmmm." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Then you must want to be in business like your papa!" She shook her head again bouncing some more.

"No! I wanna be a hero!" His twitch went blessedly unnoticed by the other two. Izumi was too busy expounding on how she was going to be a hero just like All Might, how she would be the best hero there had ever been and keep everyone safe. His smile didn't waver as he turned checking the clock on the stove.

"Well it looks like this little hero is up past her bedtime." Izumi pouted and began to protest but he cut her off. "I know Mama let you stay up so you could see me come home. But even heroes need rest." Inko nodded backing him up and reaching out to take her from him. He shook his head. "I've got her for tonight Inko. After all you said Mitsuki invited you out right?" Inko nodded and kissed their daughter on the cheek then kissed him and headed out. He turned back to Izumi and set about getting her ready for bed.

He stood in the doorway of the dark room. Now that he was sure his daughter was asleep he frowned. A hero, she couldn't have wanted to be literally anything else could she? He cursed All Might under his breath careful not to be to loud and wake his child. First Nana, now her successor. Would the world never stop, never give up this ideal of a hero. This worship of their symbol of peace. But he could speak none of this around Inko or Izumi. Inko didn't know after all. Who he really was, what he really did when he left them, they could never know, he wouldn't allow it. He clenched and unclenched his fist.

But to let her chase her dream, to let his little Izu become a hero. He couldn't allow that either. It would put her in too much danger, from him and others like him. Others who saw what this society was, rotten to the core. But he couldn't stand in her way. There was another way though.

Soft as a shadow he slipped all the way into his daughter's room. She was fast asleep. He knew from experience that no force in the world could wake her now. She had always been a heavy sleeper, something he now thanked his lucky stars for. He knelt down next to her bed and gently placed his hand on her face. He could feel her quirk, a tiny spark, not quite ready to reach for the light of day just yet. It would have been impressive. It was a mix of their quirks, his and Inko's. But not the one he'd claimed to have, the one he had according to the rest of the world as Hizashi Midoriya. If he allowed it to flourish his little Izu would be able to pull other peoples powers into her as her mother pulled small objects to herself. She wouldn't be able to keep them long term but she would be able to use the quirk of anyone near her. If he allowed it she would grow immensely powerful.

With a gentle motion he felt her quirk sever from her and join with his, but something wasn't right. He'd never taken the quirk of someone so young before, a quirk that hadn't even manifested yet. It seemed to twist between them for an instant before it vanished from existence entirely. A light snuffed out before it could ever shine. He closed his eyes for a moment then Izumi groaned and squirmed. Her face was warm and she was starting to sweat. Her normally bright green eyes were glassy as they opened.

"Papa, I don't feel so good." He hushed her and began to care for her. Her fever from the after effects of him destroying her unmanifested quirk lasted three days. He wasn't sure if he would have given the quirk back if he could, or if he should just give her one of his other innumerable quirks, something small and harmless, something that couldn't be used to become a hero like the rest of them. But he didn't really have one of those and after those three stressful days her fever broke and she was back to herself, bouncing around and smiling, the happiest of children. She was completely unaware of the future he had snatched from her. But there were other things to think about now. All Might was becoming more and more popular, was being given more and more leeway to roam the city as a hero stopping anyone he deemed was doing wrong.

He could not allow Inko or Izumi to be found. He would not see the looks on their faces if they were to ever find out who he truly was. He would not see the world turn on them because of him. So one day before Izumi's fourth birthday he approached his wife.

"I've been offered a very lucrative position working abroad."

He looked back at the apartment building one last time from the shadows of a nearby alley. He would never be back here. Not until he could kill the symbol of peace.

"Master?" The voice came from a bit deeper in the shadows. Yellow eyes stared at him, unreadable without a discernable pupil or iris.

"I'll be just another minute Kirogiri." All for One frowned back at the building where his wife and daughter were still sound asleep. He would fix this rotten world for them. He turned back to Kirogiri who bowed slightly. "How is Tomura progressing?"

"He's doing well sir." All for One nodded stepping into the shadows with his underling. Even Kirogiri, as useful as he was knew nothing of the little family All for One had hidden away under a different name. It was something he would never share with anyone, he would not risk them.


	8. A Little Bitter

**Authors Note: So everyone seemed to like the last chapter. So I wanted to do something more modern day with the idea too. I own nothing. **

A Little Bitter

The discussion of father's was one that Todoroki was wholeheartedly trying to avoid. Class had ended about ten minutes ago, everyone heading together to the lunch room. He'd decided to join Midoriya and her friends at their table. The talk had turned to their fathers when Uraraka had brought up that she didn't know what to get her father for his birthday. They all seemed to have clued in that Endeavor wasn't a good point of conversation, likely from his loud proclamations at the sports festival that even the ever optimistic Present Mic hadn't been able to twist to encouragement. So instead Uraraka had turned to Midoriya.

"What about you Deku?" She shrugged.

"I haven't seen my dad since I was three. I have no idea." Her matter of fact statement made everyone at the table blink. Uraraka looked devastated and Midoriya quickly backtracked. "Oh no I'm sorry. He's been working abroad, since I was three." The excuse sounded lame, even to Todoroki. The usual glimmer in Midoriya's eyes had gone out and she quickly stood taking her half finished tray with her. "I just remembered I need to talk to All Might about a thing." With that lame excuse she scurried away. After she had dumped her tray she bumped into Bakugou who turned to yell at her like normal but stopped short. She seemed to apologize and scurried completely out of the lunch room. Bakugou's friends looked after her, concern on every face as Bakugou stalked over to their table.

"Ok what the fuck did you bastards say to Deku to make her cry?" Todoroki blinked.

"Isn't making her upset usually your job?" He asked the blonde, feeling a bit defensive at the thought of doing anything that would upset Midoriya to the point of tears. Bakugou glared at him and would have snapped at him if Uraraka hadn't spoken.

"I just asked her about her dad." Bakugou deflated slightly at that, glancing over his shoulder at the door Midoriya had left through.

"Fuck, yeah that would do it." Iida raised a concerned eyebrow.

"I don't understand, if her father is working abroad then why does mentioning him upset her so much?" Bakugou snorted.

"So she fed you that line too. It's all Auntie Inko would say when I asked where he was when we were little." Bakugou growled slightly then plopped himself down in Midoriya's vacated spot and spoke lowly so only those at the table would be able to hear him.

"I don't want you fuckers spreading any of this around. Deku's dad is a piece of shit. He left when she was three, he hasn't so much as visited since." Uraraka went pale. Iida looked off after Midoriya and Todoroki felt his anger spike. Bakugou continued. "At first, he'd call them every week, then once a month, then just on holidays and birthdays. Then he just stopped calling, about five years ago. Auntie Inko likes to kid herself that the fucker is coming back. But Deku isn't that stupid. She figured out a while back that he doesn't give a shit about them. She doesn't like talking about it though. Pretends to believe what Auntie Inko told her. SO if you don't want to upset her don't bring that bastard up around her." Iida and Uraraka nodded but Todoroki wasn't paying attention to the explosion user anymore. Bakugou shook his head as Todoroki got to his feet and left via the same door Midoriya had left through.

It didn't take him long to find her. Her sniffles gave her away. She was sitting in the empty classroom trying to pull herself together before the other students arrived. Todoroki cleared his throat and she jumped quickly plastering a painfully fake smile onto her face.

"Oh Todoroki! I hope you didn't just leave lunch to come after me! I'm fine. Not that you would… I mean…" She cut off her own babble as he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to her. The fake smile cracked and fell away and she sobbed into the handkerchief. He had never been very good with crying people. "Did Kacchan tell you?" He nodded and she buried her face deeper into the piece of cloth. "Why wasn't I good enough?" She sobbed out the words like she would break if she kept them inside and something in him pushed him forwards.

"If he didn't think you were good enough he was a complete idiot." She hiccupped in surprise like she'd forgotten that he was even there. But he kept talking. "You are one of the best people I know. You care so deeply about everyone. You are going to be an amazing hero." He had crouched so he was eye to eye with her where she sat at her desk. She sobbed one more time into the handkerchief and sniffled before blowing her nose. She looked at him her eyes bloodshot and still shining with unshed tears. He kept going hoping to make her smile. "You are the most intuitive person I know. You helped me through something no one else even realized was a problem." He looked down at his left hand. "You gave me back my power, don't let him take yours." She sniffled again but nodded, a small smile on her face, but he called it a triumph anyway. She glanced at the handkerchief and went bright red.

"I'm sorry. I'll wash this and get it back to you." Todoroki shook his head.

"It's fine, you keep it." They both jumped at the sound of the door opening, leaping apart like they'd been burned. Yaoyarozu looked at them in confusion as Midoriya quickly turned in her seat and buried her head in her text book and Todoroki went to his own desk and began to prepare for the next lesson. She shook her head and went back to focusing on her studies.


	9. Unknown Variable

**Authors Note: I had a thought and I'm kinda on a roll so here's more. I own nothing. **

Unknown Variable

All for One sat in his dark office, watching the news coverage of Tomura's attack on the USJ. The woman on the screen was talking.

"…unprecedented attack. Luckily, we're being told there were few injuries. We're getting reports that two pro heroes, Eraserhead and Thirteen, were injured in the conflict along with a student Izumi Midoriya." All for One went so still he didn't even seem to breathe. "According to sources within UA the student's injuries were minor in comparison to the wounds inflicted on the pro heroes. All Might stepped in and ended the conflict in an explosive battle." The footage switched to a camera outside the USJ. The group of students stood around there, the cameras were behind a police line and he could make out none of what the students were saying as the reporter continued to speak. But he wasn't paying attention to her anymore. Instead he was scanning the crowd, he recognized two faces. Shoto Todoroki, son of the number two hero. They'd known about him for a while, he could prove to be a problem later in life.

The other face he recognized was Katsuki Bakugou. A childhood friend of his daughter's and the son of one of his wife's closest friends. He remembered Izumi playing with the boy at the park, playing Heroes and Villains. He took a breath and began to search through the files they had stolen from UA during the media frenzy. The class schedule they had stolen included a list of students, but not their quirks, he hadn't bothered with it since it didn't have any pertinent information anyway. His fingers scanned the list and froze on a single name.

It had been so long since he had seen them. He would never be able to see them with his own eyes again, thanks to All Might. All Might. He growled to himself. Izumi couldn't be at UA, not without help from a very powerful outside source. She had no quirk after all, he'd seen to that. He took a few deep breaths and flicked on his connection to the AV setup in the bar. Tomura would be resting but Kirogiri could answer his questions.

"Kirogiri."

"Yes Master? Tomura is resting."

"I expected as much. I want to speak to you. In person. Now." There was a slight change in the feel of the air in the room.

"I am here Master." He let himself have a sinister smile.

"I am aware. Just because the Symbol of Peace took my eyes from me does not mean I am blind Kirogiri." Many years ago, he'd taken an expanded sensory quirk from an unfortunate youth who'd wandered into the wrong place at the wrong time. While it didn't give him his sight back it allowed him to 'see' in a different way, combining his other senses to make up for the deficiency. "Tell me about the attack. Everything."

Kirogiri began his story. All for One listened intently. He gave no outward sign of his interest in Izumi or any of her classmates. No one could know about her after all. He'd made that promise to himself a long time ago. Kirogiri described Izumi breaking her legs leaping to help All Might. All for One twitched slightly but it was so minute that the smoking man missed it. Once Kirogiri had finished All for One nodded.

"You did well. You may return to the bar now." The warp villain bowed and vanished. All for One turned back to his monitors. His hands were shaking. He knew exactly what had happened now. All Might had taken something precious from him. He had found his family, though he couldn't have known what it was he'd found, and he had chosen Izumi as his successor. His sweet little Izu was the ninth possessor of One for All.

This meant several things. First of all it meant that All Might was truly weakening. Once One for All was passed on the previous user weakened. It was how he'd killed Nana Shimura after all. All Might would be easier to kill now. The fact that Izumi was breaking bones told him she had next to no control over One for All. It also made him exceedingly angry, angrier at All Might than when he'd taken his eyes and any last vestige of a chance he would be able to return to his family. He wondered if Inko knew how their daughter had acquired a quirk. He guessed she knew partial facts, if not a fabricated story. He knew that the holders of One for All were fiercely protective of their secret. He took another deep breath. This would require some tweaking of his plans. He folded his hands and frowned.

Across town Izumi Midoriya was having a dream. She wasn't sure if it was a nightmare or not. She was standing alone in a dark space. It seemed open but so empty, devoid of anything at all, a void of existence. She felt so afraid, floating in that space unable to move or breathe. Then a bright pinprick of light bloomed into existence. It was white and miles away from her. Another sprouted, closer this time but still so far away. This one was purple and just as bright as the first. Another bloomed, still closer to her. This one was blue. The next to bloom was red. The one after that was black but not like the void around her, it was still bright and Izumi felt safe. She had felt safe since the first light bloomed, though she was still hanging in a void and was so far away from the lights she felt that if she tried hard enough she could reach out and touch each light.

Another light bloomed, it was orange. Another, this one was so close and it was silver. The next one blossomed right in front of Izumi. It was gold and pulsed with so much light it almost hurt her eyes. She reached out, not knowing why she was doing it. She touched the light and another bloomed but this one seemed to grow from her fingers and spread throughout her body. It was bright green. It reached the top of her head and she shot upright in bed panting.

She blinked and frowned. For the life of her she could not remember the dream she'd been having or why it had woken her. She got out of bed and crept to the kitchen for a glass of water. She paused to check in on her mother and found her sleeping soundly. She smiled and silently crept back to her room. This time when she fell asleep she dreamed of nothing.


	10. Nightmares

**Authors Note: I already went into this, a bit. But I wanted to do this from Izumi's point of view a bit too. Also someone asked if Izumi's dream means that she's regaining her original quirk. That Quirk is gone for good. It was destroyed when All for One tried to take it from her. It's gone for good. So here we go I own nothing.**

Nightmares

Izumi couldn't breathe. She was surrounded on all sides by foul smelling slime. Her nose and mouth were blocked, the taser her mother had given her had been cast aside by the villain in seconds. It had barely phased the villain. She couldn't breathe, her vision was starting to go grey. The villain laughed.

"I've been needing a new skinbag! And this one's even cute! Thanks kid, you're my hero." She couldn't even scream. Even her eyes were covered in the slime now. She couldn't breathe. She was never going to be able to be a hero. She was never going to see her mother again. No one was coming to save her. She was going to die.

Izumi screamed shooting up in bed. She was shaking from head to toe. It took her a few minutes to calm herself back down. She was fine, All Might had saved her from the sludge villain, twice and taken her on as his protégé. She was going to get his quirk. Once she was trained enough. She glanced at her clock. It was five in the morning on a Saturday. She wasn't going to get back to sleep after that. She rolled out of bed and changed into her track suit. It was a recent acquisition, All Might themed of course but just the color scheme. She was a bit embarrassed by it honestly especially since she spent most of her weekends and after school hours training with the man himself after all. But she'd asked her mother if she could get a track suit and this one was what her mom had come back with. Truth be told she loved it. She pulled on her sneakers and went to the fridge. There were several water bottles full of pre-maid smoothies. She grinned. Her mother had been fully on board with her new diet and training regimen. She didn't know all the details but she was all for Izumi trying at least. She scribbled a quick note, telling her mother where she was going and left. She would jog to the beach and get an early start.

He was struggling, but it was like being trapped in thick honey. He could barely move and his explosions had next to no effect on this thing. It seemed to be able to direct them outwards doing more damage to the street around them. The heroes weren't helping. None of them could even get close. Something hit the villain with a thump and suddenly Deku was there. She was crying as her fingers dug at the slime that surrounded him. She didn't notice the tendrils climbing her legs, the thing grabbing hold of her before anyone could do anything. Then the scene around them shifted. The roof of the school? Deku was struggling in the slime villains grasp but she couldn't do anything, clearly. The slime thing's voice echoed around them, spitting words at them as it dangled Deku off the side of the roof.

"Such a pretty little thing. Shame she doesn't have any power. A little broken dream. Better luck next time girly." Then the slime retracted from around her and she dropped.

"Izumi!" Katsuki Bakugou came awake screaming her name, shooting up in bed, reaching out like he could catch her. He panted shaking as his door was opened. His mother looked in on him in concern, a fire extinguisher at her side. She set the extinguisher down as she saw that he hadn't started a fire this time. She stepped up to him.

"Katsuki." He was still shaking as she pulled him into a hug. It was several minutes before she spoke again, feeling tears soak into her shirt. She knew he would deny them later. But right now in the earliest hours of the morning he let himself sob. "Was it the dream again?" He nodded into her shirt. He hadn't told her exact details of the dream, but it had been clear that somehow Izumi Midoriya was involved. She could guess that the slime villain was involved as well. This was the first time he'd woken up screaming her name though. She hadn't heard him say her name in so long. Not since they were kids. It had been two weeks since the incident. Mitsuki knew that Katsuki still hadn't talked to Izumi, not really.

The good news was that meant the bullying had ceased. She'd been trying to get him to stop for years but ever since it became clear that Izumi wouldn't be getting a quirk. The girl was still applying for UA though. Mitsuki was not looking forward to seeing her dreams crushed. Inko had told her in confidence that Izumi was trying a new workout regimen and diet plan to get her in perfect shape for the exam. The poor girl was trying so hard, but it would never work without a quirk. She rubbed her sons back as he began to calm. These little moments were something she didn't see very often. Katsuki refused help from anyone most of the time. But alone with just her sometimes he would still let her in, remind her of the sweet boy he'd been when he was young, before the pressure of success molded him into the teenager now in front of her. He pushed himself away from her and scrubbed his hands across his face.

"You should try to get some more sleep Katsuki."

"Whatever."

She knew he wouldn't go back to sleep. She wasn't surprised at all when she heard the front door slam as she began cooking breakfast.

Katsuki Bakugo was not stalking Izumi Midoriya. He swore he wasn't. But he was making sure she was safe. That's what he told himself at least as he slunk his way to her block. They didn't live too far apart. They used to walk to and from school together when they were little. He'd stopped walking with her years ago. But he still knew the way to her apartment complex by heart, his shoes carrying him there without much thought. He did have a few thoughts when the door of the apartment complex opened. He spotted a familiar head of green hair and ducked behind a wall. What was she doing outside at the ass crack of dawn?

She hadn't noticed him. He glanced over the wall and saw she was putting her earbuds in, listening to music on her morning jog. But since when did Deku take a morning jog and way earlier than he usually woke up on Saturdays. She nodded to herself and set off at a brisk jog down the street as he stared after her. He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding as she took a street away from where he had hidden. His shaking had finally stopped. It had stopped when he'd seen her, alive and well. Not falling off the school building with tears streaming from her eyes.

"Stupid deku." He grumbled but for once in his insult wasn't directed at her. It was directed at himself. He had been completely useless against that slime villain, either to defend himself or her. He turned to walk back to his house and in that moment he made a silent vow that he would never be that weak again. He would get strong enough to be a real hero. No matter what.


	11. Twitches

**Authors Note: Ok I wanted to do something more with Aizawa. Cause he loves his kids but he'll never say it aloud. This one's kinda short. I own nothing.**

Twitches

It doesn't take him long to notice it. It never really does. Everyone has their twitches, things they do and don't even notice. He's seen hundreds in his years as a teacher. Some are more visible than others. Iida fixes his glasses when he nervous. Uraraka keeps one finger off of things she holds, so she doesn't accidentally make them float. Todoroki doesn't like hot tea, he always gets cold or waits for it to cool to the point most wouldn't drink it. Bakugou explodes when he feels threatened. Others are smaller. Ojiro's tail twitches like he's trying to keep it from wagging when he talks to Hagakure. The invisible girl herself taps her pen when she's thinking. Kirishima chews his fingernails. Kaminari chews on charger cables. Koda chews on pencils when he doesn't know the answer to something. Sato folds candy wrappers to keep his hands busy. Sometimes Yaoyarozu's lips move when she's reading. Jiro fiddles with her earphone jacks, all the time. Aoyama fiddles with the buttons on his jacket when he's nervous. They all have something that tells him what they are feeling and probably the most easily read of all of them is the problem child.

Izumi Midoriya might as well be an open book. Her mumbling is the first tick he noticed, the first one everyone she meets notices. Then her insecurities and need to hide her face in her hands. But it's the smaller things he's been putting together that are a bit concerning. He's sure that All Might would have noticed. He'd have to be blind not to see it. She flinches when people get too loud. When Bakugou gets a bit too rough outside of training and lets explosions off in class she flinches. When the class gets too rowdy she shrinks. They're minute tells and the flinching is getting better as she becomes more comfortable with her quirk and the fact that she no longer has to take the abuse he's sure she's used to. But they are all the signs of someone who's been abused and looked over for others, ignored even when in distress.

He knows it's because of the fact that she was quirkless before coming to UA. He is glad he and All Might are friends and that Toshinori trusts him with the secret behind the problem child because if he hadn't Aizawa would have assumed that Izumi Midoriya came from an abusive family and would have made every step to get her under the full care of UA. It wouldn't be the first time he'd pulled something like that. But the teachers knew better than to spread that sort of thing to the students. Aizawa had a reputation after all.

He did look into her home life briefly after she broke her arm during training. Her mother was her only listed emergency contact, which was a bit unusual for a hero course student. But it wasn't unheard of. If he was honest he had looked to satisfy his own curiosity. According to her file she'd gone to the same middle school as Bakugou which tracked. They'd clearly known each other before UA. Bakugou had something against her but she just wanted to live and let live with him as far as Aizawa could tell. But something else interested him. Even at her middle school she'd only had one emergency contact listed, her mother. He dug a bit deeper, just to satisfy his own curiosity. It wasn't until he hit her preschool records that he found a second contact. Hisashi Midoriya, clearly her father but why wasn't he on her records anymore. He shook himself, it wasn't really his business. But the bullying, that was his business. If it had continued here Bakugou would be out on his ear, and he seemed to know it. The kind that was responsible for the twitching hadn't continued but maybe the problem child could have a few more opportunities to beat him down every now and then. He made a note in his syllabus and moved on.


	12. Trapped

**Authors Note: I just want to do this one. It's definitely set year three when they would be going on patrols. I own nothing. **

Trapped

They were stuck, trapped in a solid concrete and steel room that was rapidly filling with what looked like ink. It would fit. The villain they'd been fighting had a quirk that allowed them to bring whatever they painted to life. But the things weren't really alive, they were like puppets, bending on strings to his will but never truly real. He'd been driven insane trying to make the woman he loved on paper come to life. But she had no will of her own. He'd started sending his creations out to kidnap people who resembled her. It had been luck that they'd run into the creatures before they could carry off the woman. Izumi slammed her fist into the ceiling of their prison, denting it. The ink began pouring faster. They were already struggling to stay afloat in it. She turned to Todoroki.

"No chance you could melt this?" She gestured to the metal above them. He shook his head.

"Too close quarters. I'd end up roasting you before I even made it to the concrete." It was true there was barely a foot of room around them. She nodded tapping her finger on her chin, smearing ink on her face as she spoke.

"You couldn't freeze the flow either. I'd probably end up with hypothermia. But I don't want you to get caught in my punch." She snapped her fingers, flecks of ink flying from them. "I have an idea!"

Bakugou was not panicking and he'd roast Kirishima for implying it. Half and Half and Deku had been on patrol in the area when their emergency signal had gone off. He and Kirishima had been closest and were now fighting against what seemed like an endless stream of Ink people. There was no sign of either hero in training either. Was it possible they could have been overwhelmed by sheer numbers?

The villain had rushed outside, to be met with Cheeks and Four Eyes. Together they should be able to handle him while he and Kirishima cleaned up in here and found Deku and Half and Half. There was a shudder that passed through the ink people before they collapsed to the floor with a splash. The coms came to life a second later as Bakugou tried in vain to brush the ink from his clothes and gauntlets.

"We got him!" Uraraka bounced into the room and skidded slightly on the ink that was all over the place. Iida caught her from behind.

"Please be more cautious when dealing with things like this Uravity." She grinned and nodded. Kirishima grinned, still dripping with ink and then frowned.

"No sign of Midoriya or Todoroki though. Where's the bad guy?"

"Chargebolt and Earphone Jack are tying him up now. And I must insist you refrain from the use of real names while we are on official patrol Red Riot." They could hear the frown in Iida's voice even though his helmet blocked him from sight. "It is troubling that there was no sign of Deku or Shoto. We should reconvene with Chargebolt and Earphone Jack perhaps the villain will have regained consciousness and can tell us where they are." The others nodded and stepped out of the warehouse.

The ink was up to their chins now. They had one shot at this. If she miscalculated her strength the cement and metal above them would come crashing down on them. If she didn't hit hard enough they would be buried in cold black ink, drowning under the floor of the warehouse they had run into to save the young woman. She'd gotten away so that was good, but their chances weren't looking good.

"You need to hold on to me." Todoroki nodded. They didn't have time to argue. It wasn't like they weren't forced close due to the smallness of the room anyway. She brought her arm out of the muck and wrapped it around him, her other arm she pulled back as it began to glow and spark with green electricity.

A young woman raced up to them as they waited for the villain to regain consciousness. She was pretty with bright yellow hair and flowers growing from her arms. She had inky handprints on her clothes and looked ragged but she wasn't made of moving ink so they knew she wasn't a threat. She paused.

"Wait where are the other two heroes? The girl in green and the boy with the candy cane hair?" Bakugou snorted at that description of Todoroki but Iida stepped forwards.

"Can you tell us where you saw them last miss? We came because they called for backup but they weren't in the warehouse." The woman shook her head petals falling from the flowers on her arms as she grew more concerned.

"They were in the warehouse! That creep had some of his things try and drag me in there but they stopped them and told me to run but they never left the building!" A croaking laugh drew the attention of the heroes.

"Unless they can breathe ink those two are done for!" Bakugou got there first and hauled the bound man up by the front of his shirt.

"What did you say fucker!?" But they were all interrupted as something inside the warehouse exploded sending ink and concrete flying. Iida was quickest and raced into the warehouse leaving the others with the still laughing villain.

The floor of the warehouse had been blasted out from within. Inside was a small room full to the brim with ink. Two figures were moving in the ink and Iida rushed forwards to help pull them loose of the thick gunk. He pressed his com with one hand, using the other to drag Midoriya onto the solid concrete.

"They're here, and they appear unharmed." Todoroki gave him a sardonic look from under his currently black bangs. He deposited the hero next to Midoriya on the concrete and the two of them shared a very awkward high five that sent ink squishing out of Midoriya's glove.

Kirishima was next into the warehouse and he burst out laughing at the sight of the thoroughly soaked teens. Iida shook his head and pulled a packet of what turned out to be wet wipes out of a compartment on his armor. He knelt down in front of Midoriya and began to scrub her face. She allowed it though she looked a bit embarrassed as he quickly cleaned her face. He moved on to Todoroki as the others entered the warehouse. Bakugou let out a snort of laughter at the sight of them. Their clothes were ruined, completely dyed black by the ink. Midoriya stuck her tongue out at Bakugou as she wrung ink from her long green hair. Todoroki was enduring Iida cleaning his face as he wasn't sure he could burn off this gunk.

They both got an earful for falling for the trap once they got back to UA, dripping ink all the way. But at least the woman was alright. The showers were clogged for a week after that though.


	13. Dreams and Journals

**Authors Note: Had an idea. It's almost midnight. I should be sleeping. I own nothing.**

Dreams and Journals

It was all Monoma's fault really. Well not all of it. The dreams weren't his fault. Ever since she'd gotten One for All Izumi had been having strange dreams. Sometimes it was just pinpricks of light, eight of them dancing around her, all but one of them just out of reach. Other times there were voices but they were talking from the end of an endless tunnel of light. She could never make out what they were saying. It was driving her to frustration. So she had begun writing them all down. She'd read somewhere that keeping a dream journal could help with recurring nightmares and dreams people had a hard time understanding. She'd been wanting to talk to All Might about these dreams, which was the only reason she'd had her journal on her at the time.

She'd been engrossed in one of her textbooks. Kacchan could call her a nerd all he wanted, combat tactics were fascinating and no one was ever going to convince her differently. Classes had ended for the day, she was on her way to All Might's office. She was so deep into the book she hadn't bothered to close her bag properly. She didn't see the foot Monoma stuck out in her path. She fell headlong the contents of her bag going flying, another textbook beaming her straight in the head. Monoma laughed loudly, drawing the attention of everyone else in the hall.

"I thought you Class 1-A heroes were supposed to be the best, not falling all over the halls. He stepped around her as she started pulling herself up rubbing her head where the book had smacked her. She was really hoping Kendo was around but it didn't look like it. The class rep for 1-B seemed to be the only one who could put a stop to Monoma. Then she spotted what he was eyeing as he bent to pick it up. Izumi was really wishing that she wasn't such a dork that she had to label all of her journals. For an instant she thought he had picked up her hero journal but as he let out a laugh she realized it was much worse.

"Who keeps a dream journal?" All the blood drained from her face. No, that journal had sensitive information about her quirk! About what she'd been seeing in her dreams. If he read that the jig was up. She scrambled to her feet and reached to snatch the journal back from him but he was taller than her and dangled the journal out of reach. She couldn't get close to him either, she couldn't risk him trying to copy her quirk, he might accidently kill himself with it. "Oh come on I just wanna see who it is you dream about." His teasing wasn't welcome, more was at stake than any crushes she might have. She felt tears sting her eyes. She couldn't let All Might down like this. She was about to leap at him regardless of his quirk when someone else snatched the journal from Monoma. The sight of blue hair and glasses had never been more welcome.

"This is hardly behavior worthy of a UA hero student!" She could have hugged Iida on the spot. He had no idea what he'd just prevented, nor did she think he would ever know as he knelt to help her gather her things, handing her back her journal as he did. "I will be telling your class representative about this!" Monoma made himself scares at that. Apparently Kendo was a good threat to use against him. Iida dug in his pocket and held out a handkerchief to her. She blinked and shook her head, pulling the one Todoroki had given her out of her pocket.

"Thanks Iida. I really appreciate that. You have no idea." Iida smiled at her.

"It was no trouble. I am curious as to why you brought a dream journal to class." Izumi went bright red.

"I grabbed the wrong one this morning." She hated lying especially to a friend who had just helped her in more ways than he knew but this wasn't really something she could share. He nodded.

"Do try to be more careful Midoriya." She grinned at him as they got her books back into her bag.

"I will, thanks Iida." She waved as she raced away. Once she was sure she was alone she let out a long breath and ran a hand through her hair. That had been far too close. She scurried off to All Might's office.


	14. Lullaby

**Authors Note: The song in this is Tightrope from Greatest Showman. I own nothing.**

Lullaby 

Present Mic's classes sometimes got a little weird. Today was no exception.

"As heroes you're going to go through a lot of things. Not all of them are gonna be good. You need a way to cope with that listeners! Music is an outlet a lot of pros use to deal with the stress of their jobs!"

That was how they found themselves in a room full of different instruments. Bakugou had taken possession of the drum set at once. Izumi had known he would. He'd been playing drums for years, his mother had thought it would help him get his energy out in a more healthy way. She lingered on the edges of the room for a while before she wandered over to a large grand piano. None of her classmates had gone near it, favoring the guitars and more conventional school band instruments over the classical piece. It was a well cared for piano. Izumi let her fingers trail over the ivory keys for a moment before gently pushing a key. The clear note rang from the instrument sparking a memory she'd forgotten she had.

_'Papa! Papa! Are you going to show me how to play?' Someone lifted her up into his lap and carefully arranged tiny fingers on the keys_.

_'If that's what you want little Izu. Here we'll play your lullaby.'_

Izumi slid onto the bench and arranged her fingers. She'd forgotten the rest of the class was even there, lost in a pleasant memory of her father, something she didn't have a lot of. Her fingers started a bit clumsy on the keys, it had been so long since she played after all but after a few sour notes the memory slotted into place and the notes came easily.

"Some people long for a life that is simple and planned. Tied with a ribbon." Bakugou's drumming faltered then stopped. Jiro, who'd been playing along with him frowned. He was looking around.

"Some people won't sail the sea cause they're safer on land. To follow what's written." His eyes locked on the grand piano and the girl sitting there. God it had been years since he'd heard that song. He had a vague memory of a man he knew to be Deku's father singing it to her.

"But I'd follow you to the great unknown. Off to a world we call our own." Iida slowly lowered the bow for the violin he'd been testing out. Uraraka had both hands over her mouth as Izumi kept singing, seemingly oblivious to the world around her.

"Hand in my hand, and we promise to never let go. We're walking a tightrope." Her voice wasn't perfect, her high notes wavered slightly but the emotion behind the song had all other sound falling to a stop. Present Mic had raised an eyebrow. Mineta was filming, everyone else was just watching as slightly crocked fingers caressed the keys.

"High in the sky, we can see the whole world down below. We're walking a tightrope." Izumi was still caught in that memory. It was like she could still feel his hands guiding her fingers, his base voice rumbling the words along with her.

"Never sure, never know how far we could fall. But it's all an adventure that comes with a breathtaking view. Walking a tightrope with you."

'A breathtaking view, that's what this is.' Todoroki thought as she began the second verse. He'd had some time to contemplate Izumi Midoriya since the sports festival and she still fascinated him. That someone so small and seeming so insecure and so fragile could hold so much power inside her, he was still stunned. Her kindness shone so bright he would swear she glowed with it. She poured herself heart and soul into everything she did. This was no different he mused as the chorus fell from her lips once more.

"Never sure, will you catch me if I should fall?" Her words faltered for on the crescendo, the previous note from the piano keys nearly fading into silence before she put her fingers back to the keys, her voice sounding so small as she kept going.

"Well it's all an adventure that comes with a breathtaking view." Ashido and Hagakure were sniffling. Jiro was looking a Midoriya with her head tilted to the side as if she was seeing the girl in a whole new light.

"Walking a tightrope, with you." The piano played out the last few notes and the room fell silent for a moment before Sero and Kaminari burst out into applause. They were quickly joined by most of the rest of the class as Mineta scrambled to hide his phone. Midoriya jumped so badly she almost fell off the bench. Iida leapt forwards to help her but it was Todoroki who got there first. She was beet red as she tried to hide behind her hair.

"That was beautiful Midoriya. I didn't know you played." Todoroki said helping her to her feet. She stuttered and stammered but didn't actually manage actual words as several of the girls crowded around them to compliment Izumi and pepper her with a million questions. Present Mic was about to step in, he could practically see All Might's protégé wishing the floor would open up and swallow her, but Iida beat him to it.

"That's enough. Midoriya clearly isn't comfortable with this many questions at once." He said waving his hands at his classmates in reprimand. Most of them apologized and slipped easily back into the activities they had forgotten. Todoroki stayed though.

"I didn't know you played." Todoroki said again drawing Izumi's attention back to him. She rubbed the back of her head and let out a huff.

"I don't. Not anymore. I hadn't played in a long time. Hadn't even seen a piano in a while." He raised an eyebrow. She let out a breath. "When I was little my dad would sometimes take me out, when my mom was working. One of our favorite places was this little music studio the company he works for owned. He used to play piano for hours. That's the only song he taught me, before he started working abroad." Her face fell slightly. Todoroki gently pushed her hair back from her face.

"For not having played in a long time that was really impressive. Maybe you should try to get back into it." Midoriya laughed.

"I wouldn't have the space to. The studio got bought out years ago. I think it's dancer space now." Present Mic stepped forward.

"Actually you would have a place, listener!" She blinked at him and the other students paused in their activities too. "This room and the several other rooms in this hall are the music department at UA. You all have access to this space and a few others at select times and after school! Just like you have select access to the gyms!" The class cheered as Bakugou and Jiro picked back up their jam session. Midoriya blushed slightly as she realized that she and Todoroki were still standing very close to each other.

"Maybe I will pick it back up after all then." She grinned and Todoroki felt his heart do flip flops in his chest. Present Mic smiled to himself and shot Midnight a text.

'I want in on the 1-A pool. 2,000 yen on Todoroki and Midoriya.' His phone buzzed immediately.

'You sure? The odds favor Bakugou and Midoriya more. He's got the childhood friend thing going for him.'

'I'm sure.' Midnight rolled her eyes at her phone. All Might raised an eyebrow.

"Everything alright?" She nodded and stepped over to a whiteboard in the corner.

"Yes. Mic is just making a risky bet." Aizawa glared up at her from his sleeping bag in the corner as she changed a few numbers on the board and added Mic's name to a column.

"Might not be as risky as you think." She rolled her eyes at him and All Might shook his head. He was never going to get used to this teaching thing.


	15. For Their Lives

**Authors Note: This one is much longer than the last few. I own nothing. **

For Their Lives

The text came out of nowhere, Todoroki almost ignored it. But he checked his phone out of instinct. It was a GPS location sent by… Midoriya? There was no text, no explanation or comment of what the location was. He'd gone stock still, unnoticed by his father. Midoriya wasn't the kind to send out cryptic messages. He honestly had only received a few text messages from her. While they had all been about school, they all contained her regular speech pattern, tending to ramble on for a bit. This was different. He opened the location. She shouldn't have been in Hosu, her internship was in a smaller agency, the only one who had sent her an invitation. It was with a hero he'd never heard of, she'd seemed a bit nervous when he'd bid her farewell at the bullet train station. If she was in Hosu, with everything that was happening… He turned on his heel and ran. The address wasn't too far away. Endeavor tried to call him back but he ignored him, choosing instead to shout the address over his shoulder at his father. Once he'd finished he would send heroes there, or come himself. Todoroki didn't care. If Midoriya was in trouble he was going to help no matter what.

If you asked her why she got off the train against Grand Torino's orders she would point out that she had at least seen what the other Nomu was capable of, she could be of some strategic help in this fight. But when she'd seen Manual, desperate to find Iida she'd switched tracks without a second thought. These Nomu weren't nearly as strong as the other one. The pros were holding their own but if she was right about why Iida had taken the internship here then he could be in life threatening danger.

She zipped along alleys bounding from wall to wall with the ease of someone who'd been doing this for years, not a day. Full Cowling was a fantastic feeling, even through the anxiety eating at her she could admit that. One of her greatest assets to her had proven to be what was blocking her from using One for All properly, she was overthinking it. Now that she let the power flow through her she felt freer than she'd ever felt in her entire life. Lightning swirled and flashed around her, bright green and exhilarating. But she had to focus. Iida could be in trouble or worse.

She'd been reading about the hero killer, how could she not? His acts and what little was known about him had been all over the news for weeks. If his pattern held here in Hosu like it had in the other places he'd attacked he would be out of the way, somewhere there weren't a lot of people. He left heroes for dead in back alleys and abandoned buildings. She glanced around and changed course on a dime. She'd found what she was looking for.

Iida slammed his eyes closed. He was going to die in a back alley, his brother would be so disappointed in him. The legacy of Ingenium would die with him. He hadn't been able to take down this horrible villain. Then a familiar voice made him snap his eyes back open.

"Smash!" Midoriya's fist slammed into Stain's face sending him flying down the alley away from both Iida and the hero he'd forgotten about. She landed softly. She looked different. For one thing that insanely hard punch had not even phased her. Her arm was not broken. Green lightning sparked around her.

"Midoriya?" He choked out. He still couldn't move. She dropped into a fighting stance.

"Don't worry Iida, I'm gonna save you!" Iida couldn't believe that she was even here, much less standing up to Stain. Midoriya was powerful sure but she lacked control, as Aizawa liked to point out. Or at least she had lacked control. Stain didn't seem to have seen her coming. And she was still in one piece after that punch.

She couldn't run. Iida couldn't move, and the other hero in the alley looked paralyzed too. She wasn't going to leave them to the hero killer no matter what. Stain questioned her motives. It gave her time to slip her phone out one handed and send off her location. She hoped her hunch was right.

"Listen to me, stand down! Run! This has nothing to do with you!" She clenched her fists at Iida's words.

"If you really believe that then why are you trying to become a hero at all?" Her words seemed to shock all present. "There are plenty of things I'd like to say, but they'll have to wait. All Might was right though. Getting involved when you don't have to is the essence of being a hero!" With no more preamble than that she lunged.

It almost went the way she wanted it to. A tiny nick on her bicep, just deep enough to draw blood proved her undoing. But it wasn't the cut that had triggered the Hero Killer's quirk it was when he licked her blood from his sword that she had found herself frozen. The Hero Killer regarded her for a moment, gently brushing her long green hair out of her face with his sword. Iida made a noise of protest, near panic from further down the alley.

"This society is rotten, the word hero has lost its meaning. Too many people pursuing the word for personal gain and glory. But not you." He let his sword drop from where it rested on her face. She blinked, confused. "There are few true heroes in this world, those who deserve to live. You are one of them girl." He stepped down the alley back toward Iida. He stopped above the speedster and lifted his sword again. "You fought to protect these two, you didn't try to just take your friend and run, or even go for help. You're quick you might have found some before I did them both in. But you risked your life for them. You deserve to live. Not these two."

"No! Leave him alone! Stop!" Her protests fell on deaf ears as Stain made to drive his sword through Iida's neck. But he never got the chance.

Todoroki got there just in time to shoot a blast of flame at the hero killer, forcing him back away from Iida, he kept the stream up until the hero killer was forced back passed where Midoriya was crouched, unmoving.

"Midoriya." She blinked at him, she seemed unable to move. "You need to be more specific in situations like this." He held up his phone, still displaying the GPS location. His mind was racing as he sent his ice out, collecting the three downed heroes and defending them all from the killer. If he had gotten here just a few minutes later there was no telling what Stain could have done. Killed Iida certainly but Midoriya. She could have been… he refused to think about it as he began to fight the hero killer.

The fight couldn't have lasted more than ten minutes but it felt like hours. But between Midoriya's clever observations and tenacity, his ice and fire working together in a real fight for the first time, and Iida refusing to give up they had him. He seemed to be out cold as Todoroki tied him up and Midoriya divested him of his knives. Iida's arms were still too messed up to be of much use. Once she was done taking every knife she could find from him she turned to the hero still on the ground.

"Are you ok?" She reached out a hand to him and set her uninjured foot as she pulled the hero, who introduced himself as Native, to his feet. Her left ankle was bleeding badly and she was wobbling like she was tired. It didn't surprise him as he steadied her and she smiled at him. She grinned back and Todoroki felt his heart do another flip.

"I'm ok Shoto." She blushed slightly using his first name, even though he had chosen that as his hero name. He nodded as Native offered to carry her since her leg was wounded. It was the least he could do after they had saved his life like that. Todoroki dragged Stain behind them as they made their way to the main streets. Grand Torino was the first hero they ran into, a more literal statement than it would normally have been as he decided to introduce himself by slamming his foot into Midoriya's face. Native was gentle about letting Midoriya back to her feet once the ambulance had been called. Shoto would have gladly taken over carrying her if she needed it but before he could voice that suggestion something zoomed out of the sky and snatched her out of the cluster of heroes. She didn't even get the chance to cry out.

Shigiraki was annoyed. Stain hadn't been what he wanted at all. A pretentious bastard with a holier than thou attitude who thought All Might was worthy of being a hero. Then there was the fact that the other man had stabbed him just as he had almost healed from the disaster at the USJ. Now Endeavor had roasted two of his three Nomu. And the little green brat was here. He giggled lightly as he watched the winged Nomu ascend quickly to heights beyond the heroes reach. At least he could watch the master's creation tear apart All Might's little fangirl. Even Endeavor didn't dare make a move and risk hitting the girl. Maybe today wouldn't be such a bust after all.

None of them even saw Stain move. One second he was behind Shoto, bound with the rope the boy had found in the dumpster, the next he was free. He grabbed the blonde hero and licked the Nomu's blood from her face. Instantly the thing twitched before dropping in altitude. Its wings were still spread but it was paralyzed, Izumi still in its talons. She cried out as the ground began to rush towards them and the claws around her middle tightened instinctively, just enough for them to bite into her skin through her suit. But Stain wasn't done yet. He catapulted himself up to meet the falling beast, wielding a knife he'd pulled from god knew where. He drove the blade deep into the things exposed brain and grabbed Izumi by the collar of her suit, yanking her out of the way of the falling mass.

All of this happened within a few seconds, leaving the heroes stunned. Shoto squared back up, ready to fight. His mind was going a mile a minute. They had to get Izumi out of his grip. She was bleeding more now. Two slashes in her left side, and one on her right from the Nomu's claws. If Stain got another taste of her blood she'd be truly helpless in his hands. The thought made Shoto's blood boil. But Stain dropped her collar once they landed, he used the Nomu to break both of their fall. Izumi flinched away, but with her injured arm and leg there wasn't much else she could do. But Stain wasn't paying her anymore attention. His mask had come loose and fell from his face. Every hero in the vicinity was frozen with fear at the hero killer's pronouncement. Then he suddenly stopped. Just froze, eyes rolled back in his head, even though he remained standing.

Iida and Shoto were the first to move. They raced past the immobilized villain and to Izumi's side. The sound of sirens approaching spurred the other heroes into motion. Grand Torino was by their side in a moment as Endeavor set about restraining Stain. Izumi was shaking slightly but aside from the wounds she'd gotten fighting Stain and the new slashes on her side, which weren't deep, she was alright. Grand Torino shook his head.

"I told you to stay on the train kid." Iida spoke up.

"With all due respect sir, if she had I would be dead." Native had joined them, and he nodded in agreement and began to regale the older hero with the story of the fight. Shoto was still focused on Izumi though.

"Do you think you can stand?" She huffed out a breath and shook her head. Shoto scooped her up easily. She was tiny, barely reaching five feet in height after all. She didn't seem to weigh a lot. Her weight had to be muscle based, he mused as he stood, carrying her bridal style. He didn't care about the look his father sent their way, a calculating look that he didn't really like.

Two ambulances pulled around the corner and screeched to a halt. Endevor saw to Stain as the other heroes ushered Iida, Shoto and Izumi into the second ambulance. Shoto was the least injured of the three of them so he set Izumi down on one of the gurnies and sat on the edge of it while Iida was loaded onto the other one. Native came with them, along with Grand Torino, who sat in the front of the ambulance. Manual joined him as the EMTs began to work on them, carefully removing Iida's armor and Midoriya's shoe. Shoto let out a long breath. He let the tension that had been building since he'd stepped into that alley release. They were going to be alright. Midoriya gave him an exhausted smile that he returned. They both glanced at Iida who nodded his thanks. Native smiled at Shoto and Izumi.

"You two make a really cute couple." Izumi went bright red and began to flail stammer until the EMTs ordered her to stop moving and exacerbating her wounds. Native frowned. "I'm sorry I just assumed since he was the one you sent your distress call to that you two were together." Izumi shook her head.

"No I figured he was in the area. I knew that there were a lot of heroes in the area but not all of our classmates have internships in the area. But I knew your dad would want to try and track down the hero killer Todoroki." He nodded, but Izumi couldn't help but notice the slight pink dusting to his cheeks.

"You can call me Shoto." She blushed a deeper red.

"Sorry. I keep forgetting you picked that for your codename." He shook his head.

"No. You can just call me Shoto." She blinked at him and nodded slightly.

"Then you can call me Izumi, if you want." They both looked away from each other as Native shot Iida a look that seemed to ask 'is it always like this?'. Iida nodded.


	16. Hospitalized

**Authors Note: Yes Grand Torino knows about the pool, it was active when he worked at UA. He made out like a bandit betting that Toshinori would not end up with anyone. He knew that the boy was too focused on getting better and still mourning the death of his mentor. I still own nothing. **

Hospitalized

When they reached the hospital they were separated. None of them wanted to separate, they were all still quite shaken up after the fight with Stain but the nurses reassured them that they would be next door to each other. That was Manual and Grand Torino's insistence. If Stain escaped custody, though that seemed unlikely, and came after the kids who'd caught him no one wanted to have them separated, as it would make it harder to defend them all. Native, Shoto and Iida were all wheeled into the same room. The next few hours was a swarm of doctors and nurses, stitches and healing quirks to speed their recovery. Once they were all dressed in the hospital gowns, their wounds wrapped and healing, only then were they allowed to ask questions.

"How's Midoriya?" Iida beat Todoroki to the question by a second. The doctor nodded.

"The girl who was brought in with you? She's going to be fine. Her injuries were much more minor than either of yours, or Native's." The hero had been wheeled out a while back and hadn't returned. Iida nodded as Todoroki let out a breath.

"And Native?" The doctor smiled.

"He's going to be fine as well. He needs some minor surgery but he'll be alright. We're waiting for some test results for you Mr. Iida, but all told none of you should be here for more than a few days." There was a tap on the door. Grand Torino poked his head into the room.

"Do you mind if I talk to these kids for a minute doctor?" The doctor nodded to the hero.

"Of course!" He turned back to Iida. "We'll let you know as soon as your test results come through." With that the doctor turned and left. Grand Torino cast a calculating eye over the two boys.

"So the three of you together beat the hero killer." Todoroki made to speak but Grand Torino held up a hand. "Don't worry I've heard at least most of the story from Midoriya already." He shook his head. "I wish Toshinori had warned me how much of a trouble magnet that girl is." That part what whispered, like he hadn't meant either of them to hear it. Before Todoroki could ask who Toshinori was Grand Torino continued. "I thought you would like to know that her injuries were quite minor. Six stitches to the slash on her ankle, and she managed to overwork the muscles in her right arm. But she's going to be ok. The slashes from that Nomu thing weren't deep enough to need stiches, just a few bandages."

What Grand Torino failed to tell them was that she was exhausted. He had visited her as soon as the doctors allowed it. He couldn't not check on her, after all he felt it was his duty to look after her, make sure she could live up to the legacy she had taken on. She had been so tired she could barely keep her eyes open, but she'd told him everything she could. She reminded him quite a bit of Toshinori but she also remined him of Nana Shimura. All three of them had a kind of light inside them that shone out when they smiled. He had a theory that all of the possessors of One for All had that light. But he only had a sample size. There had been eight holders of this quirk, now nine with Toshinori's successor. She had drifted off to sleep as he left the room. He would hazard a guess that she had used One for All a bit strenuously. She had only figured out that she had to let if flow though her entirely that morning after all.

"She's sleeping now. I suggest you two should get some sleep as well. There are several pros on guard. No need to worry." With that he slipped out of the room, leaving the boys alone with their thoughts. Iida spoke first.

"I'm glad neither of you were injured too extensively." Todoroki nodded.

"I'm glad you're alright too. But there's one thing I can't figure out." Iida nodded for him to continue. "Stain saved her. That Nomu was getting away, there was no way for us to stop it without risking her. But the Hero Killer saved her. Why?" Iida nodded.

"I had forgotten that you showed up after that." Todoroki raised an eyebrow at him. The room was dark but he could make out Iida's face in the light of a streetlamp outside the window. He looked contemplative.

"The Hero Killer said he believed she was worthy of being a hero. That she was worthy of living." Todoroki stared at him. Iida shook his head. "She showed up in that alley because she had a hunch. He was seconds from killing me. She saved me. Refused to run, stood to defend myself and Native. I begged her to run, but she… She said something All Might said. That getting involved when one doesn't have to is the essence of being a hero. It was after that that Stain said he refused to kill her."

Thinking about it Stain had every opportunity to kill Midoriya the second time he'd managed to paralyze her. Todoroki had done his best to defend her but he couldn't move away from Iida and Native and risk them being killed. Once he'd paralyzed her Stain had left her alone. They fell silent for a moment.

"He's right about one thing." Iida looked up at Todoroki who was staring at his left hand. "She is a hero, through and through." Iida nodded.

The morning after Stain's capture Grand Torino made a phone call.

All Might picked up on the third ring and spewed blood at the voice on the other end of the line.

"You should have warned me about Izumi Midoriya, Toshinori." Their conversation was short. Grand Torino had chastised him for not telling her more about One for All. He needed to tell her everything he knew. There was a very good chance that All for One was behind the league of villains. She needed to be prepared. Before he hung up though he made one final request.

"Put 4,000 yen down on that Todoroki boy and Midoriya ending up together by the end of the year. I know the pool is still active Toshinori don't argue. We can split the winnings at the end of the school year."

He wasn't the only one making a phone call though. After being debriefed and reprimanded slightly by the Chief of Hosu Police Todoroki had slipped out of the room and called his sister.

"Shoto! I was so worried about you! One of dad's sidekicks called yesterday. He said you'd gotten into a fight with the Hero Killer! Please tell me you're alright!"

"I'm fine sis. Just a couple of stitches." He paused. The official story that was being put out was that Endeavor had saved the day, finding and defeating the Hero Killer. The news had gotten footage of the street when Stain had killed the Nomu and saved Izumi, so the pros let out a story that the students present had simply been there on their internships. That, aside from what they couldn't cover up, the students hadn't been involved in the fight at all. But Todoroki looked around quickly, checking that he was alone, and told his sister everything. There was a pause in the conversation as she processed everything he'd said.

"I'm so glad you're ok Shoto!" He nodded, hesitated and spoke again.

"You said I could talk to you about anything."

"Of course."

"I think… I think I like her."

"This Midoirya girl?" Shoto could hear the smile in his sisters voice.

"Izumi, yes." The name felt right on his tongue. "I don't know what to do about it though."

"Well the first step is admitting your feelings to yourself. You've done that. The next step is figuring out what you want to do about it." Shoto frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you want to pursue this girl, if so how? You could be open and just tell her how you feel, though I would wait a bit. A big scare like what you all had last night can rile up emotions." Shoto sighed at his sister's words.

"I know. When I thought Stain was going to kill her, or she was going to be carried away by that Nomu I was terrified. It was like I couldn't breathe."

"Sounds like you've got it bad Shoto." He nodded looking back down the hall at the room Izumi was currently in, talking to Iida.

"I suppose I do."


	17. Back To School

**Authors Note: The flowers described here are auriculas. I still own nothing.**

Back To School

The pros did their best to keep Izumi, Shoto and Iida out of the media spotlight and for the most part they were successful. But it seemed that despite that everyone in school at least knew that Izumi had been present from the footage the news had managed to get ahold of and air before the pros found out about it. It wasn't a very long clip, it had been when stain had made his ultimatum that All Might was the only one who was worthy of killing him, but Izumi had been obvious, her green hair and costume standing out against the concrete. She opened her locker and blinked. There were several things inside it that she knew hadn't been there last time she'd opened her locker. There was a small carefully wrapped box and on top of the box was a small bouquet of flowers she'd never seen before.

The blooms were tiny, delicate things, barely bigger than her thumb. The edges of the small petals were green. A jagged line of purple edged the green fading into white before the petals dipped to a center that was a bright happy looking yellow. Uraraka bounced up to her and stopped, noticing she was just staring at her locker.

"Deku! Are you ok?" Izumi blinked at her friend. Then she spotted the box and the flowers on top of it. "Oh my gosh! Someone left you flowers!" That got Iida's attention. He had just arrived behind Uraraka. He was taller than either of them and could see over Izumi's head into her locker.

"That sounds like some has feelings for you." Uraraka bounced excitedly.

"Oh my gosh! Is there a note?! Do you know who it's from?" Then she spotted Izumi's face and stopped almost mid bounce. "Why are you crying?" Iida looked down slightly concerned. There were tears leaking out of Izumi's eyes.

"No one's ever done something like this for me." Uraraka pulled her into a hug so tight she winced slightly.

"Aw! I really kind of hate your old school! I know that sounds stupid but you're such a good person and it sounds like they were awful to you!" Izumi stayed quiet as she wiped her eyes with the handkerchief Todoroki had given her and finally retrieved the gift from inside her locker. Before she could open it though a loud voice came from around the corner.

"I am here!" She almost dropped the package in surprise. All Might grinned at them, eyeing the package in her hands for a moment. Then he spoke again. "Sorry for interrupting but I need to borrow Midoriya for a minute! I got a message from Grand Torino to pass on to you!" Izumi perked up and waved a farewell to her friends as she followed All Might into the empty lounge. He shut the door behind them and let out a breath, releasing his muscular form as he did. He put both hands on her shoulders.

"It's good to see you in one piece young Midoriya. When Grand Torino told me what happened with the Hero Killer…" He trailed off, leaving the sentence hanging for a moment before he pulled her into an actual hug. "You're lucky to be alive young Midoriya." She frowned and shook her head.

"Grand Torino wasn't there for all of it. Stain wasn't going to kill me." All Might raised an eyebrow. The bell rang over their heads, the first signal for students to head to class.

"Tell me after school. I need to talk to you anyway." She nodded to him and left the lounge heading off to Aizawa's classroom. Toshinori shook his head after her. One of the petals had fallen from the flowers in her hands. He picked it up and shook his head again. "Young Midoriya."

Lunch rolled around and Izumi brought the box with her. She hadn't had a chance to open it before class started. Uraraka was bouncing in her seat. Iida looked amused. She opened it and blinked at the contents. There were three things in the box along with a note. She picked it up and read it as Uraraka bounced.

'I hope you find these useful. Though one of them simply reminded me of your smile.' It wasn't signed. She gasped at the items under the note. The first thing was a red white and blue scrunchie, it had two yellow pieces coming off of it, reminiscent of All Might's hair.

"Oh my gosh! They only made three hundred of these!" And she was off babbling about how hard she had tried to get ahold of this limited edition color set and how it had been sold out within seconds of going on sale. She grinned and had Uraraka help her pull her hair up into a ponytail with the scrunchie. The two yellow pieces stuck up just above her head and she grinned. "How does it look?" Uraraka smiled wide.

"You look so cute Deku!" She grinned, absolutely glowing with excitement as she turned back to the box. The next thing in it was a second scrunchie. This one though was green like her costume, with a band of red like her belt through it. She blinked. Iida regarded the hair tie with interest.

"This one looks custom made to match your hero costume." Izumi blushed bright red. She slipped that one around her wrist. The last thing in the box was a necklace. It was on a delicate gold chain, the pendant was a small sun made of what looked like crystal. She blinked at it, it was beautiful, catching light and refracting it into tiny rainbows. Uraraka gushed.

"Oh my gosh Deku that is so pretty!" Izumi nodded and held the necklace up to the light admiring it as someone sat down across from her.

"Sorry I'm late Izumi." She grinned at Todoroki as she unclasped the chain and put the necklace on.

"Hi Shoto!" He smiled softly at her. Uraraka's eyes went wide. Iida shot Todoroki a knowing look. He slurped his soba in silence.

Later, on their way to the training ground Iida spoke to Todoroki, keeping their voices low so the others didn't hear them.

"Why didn't you sign it?" Todoroki shrugged.

"I wasn't ready to tell her." Iida rolled his eyes. "Thank you for the help though. I do appreciate it."

"You are both my friends and I would like to see you both happy." Todoroki looked ahead of them to where Izumi was talking to Ashido, a giant grin on her face, the custom made scrunchie in her hair, visible in the green only due to the bright red stripe.

"You think I could make her happy?" Iida nodded.

"I truly think you are both good for each other." Todoroki smiled at him.

This shouldn't have been possible. The nerd hadn't had this much control of her quirk before. Bakugou watched the screen in disbelief as Izumi zipped through the air. Green lightning sparked and swirled around her and she hadn't broken any bones. Instead she was dodging and flipping through the industrial complex that made up the training ground. And she was using his moves to do it! He growled. She was in first, ahead of Sero, who most of their classmates had pegged as coming first. How could she have gotten so good in a week? While he wasted his time getting lectured by Best Jeanist. He could practically hear his teeth grinding.

Then she lost her footing, and slipped. She just managed to catch herself before she would have face planted on the concrete below, but taking the time to do that lost her the lead. She ended up coming in fourth, after Sero, Iida, and Ashido. That set Bakugou's world back on a somewhat even keel. He sighed and grumbled to himself as he went to his starting point. He ended up coming in first which he made sure to state loudly in front of Deku but she wasn't paying attention to him. She was congratulating Todoroki on coming in second. He frowned slightly.

Toshinori couldn't do it. Looking into those big green eyes, he couldn't tell her. He couldn't tell her the truth about One for All. The admiration shining in her eyes was too bright. He couldn't put that light out now. He just couldn't.

"That's all I had to tell you. You will need to train even harder now, but you're doing well. So who were the flowers from?" Midoriya went bright red.

"W… well. There was a note, but it wasn't signed." Toshinori smiled slightly, glad that his change of subject had worked so well.

"Is there someone you want it to be from?" She was fidgeting with a small crystal sun on a gold chain around her neck. He was sure that hadn't been there before. And the All Might Scrunchie was new. He didn't think it was possible for her face to get redder.

"Well yeah there… there is somebody." He let out a short laugh.

"Well I wont pry Young Midoriya. You should be heading home, we don't want your mother worrying about you." She nodded and grabbed her bag before setting off down the hall with a wave over her shoulder. Once she was gone he dropped back onto the couch his head in his hands. "You should have told her. She needs to know." He felt himself shaking as he pictured her smile. "Who are you kidding? She wouldn't understand. She's too… too young." Too good. Too pure. She had too much faith in him. He could already feel the reserve of One For all draining every time he used it. The transformation itself didn't take too much, which was why he was still able to use it for classes. But if he had to face All for One.

He knew how it would go. It had gone that way for Nana after all. He just had to make sure she was ready when that time eventually came. Maybe she could finally put an end to the evil. He could only hope.

That night the dreams came back. They had been absent while she was in the hospital. But this time there was something different. She was back in the void with the eight pinpricks of light but this time the gold one moved past her faster than she could touch it. She came to a halt in front of the silver one. A voice echoed in her mind.

'No matter how scary things get, give 'em a smile!' Izumi blinked there was a shape in the light in front of her. It was a person, they were so hard to see, the light was so bright. It was a woman. She wore her hair just like Izumi's mother did. She was tall a cape flowing out behind her. But Izumi couldn't make out her face.

'You're doing so well! Little Toshi picked a good one! I knew he would when the time came!' Izumi shielded her eyes from the light.

"Who are you?"

'You'll figure it out. I know you will.' She sounded a little sad like she was hoping Izumi would know who she was already. 'He needs to tell you the rest of the story. You don't know everything, but you will need to.'

"What are you talking about?!" Izumi was desperate to figure out who this woman was. It seemed so important. She'd seen someone who looked like her before. No not someone. A specter standing in the doorway of the stadium when she'd broken her finger to break out of Shinso's control. "I need to know who you are!" The figure nodded.

'Yes, you do!' But she was turning away. Izumi tried to race after her and woke with a crash as she fell out bed. Rubbing her head she scrambled in the dark for the switch on her lamp and the dream journal she kept by her bed. The sketch was quick, sitting there on the floor her blankets tangled around her legs. She was fully awake though, the slight ache in her head from where she'd hit the floor saw to that.

In the light of her single lamp she looked down at the page. It was just the rough outline of the woman, she had no face, Izumi hadn't seen her face. But if she put the eyes from the specter at the sports festival, well it was a start. She scribbled down the little that the woman had said. Next to it all she drew a large question mark. She sighed in frustration as she ran both hands through her hair. Why could nothing about any of this be straightforward?


	18. Panic Attacks

** Authors Note: This idea just kind of crept up on me. I own nothing. **

Panic Attack

The whole class knew something was wrong when Aizawa ducked into Present Mic's class. Their homeroom teacher didn't make it a habit of interrupting lessons.

"SHOTA!" Aizawa grimaced slightly at Present Mic's loud voice. He ignored him and spoke.

"Problem child." Izumi frowned. She felt she hadn't really earned that moniker, but then again all the broken bones and everything that had happened in Hosu maybe there was some merit to it. "Grab your bag, come with me." Everyone in the room was frozen in shock. Was this it? Was Aizawa finally expelling someone like he'd always threatened? But why would it be Midoriya? She was frowning as she gathered her things and followed him out of the room. He led her to one of the student lounges and pointed at the couch. She set down her bag and sat down.

"There's been a villain attack." Izumi went rigid. "From what we've learned the villain was a minor one, but he did manage to do some damage to the hospital where your mother works." Aizawa was sitting across from her and noted that she was shaking. "Your mother was injured but it was minor, just a sprained ankle. But you're being signed out of school for the day to go help her." The shaking hadn't stopped at his reassurance that her mother was fine. Her breathing had sped up. He recognized the signs. He carefully sat down next to her and laid his hand on her back. Her shaking paused then redoubled.

"Breathe Midoriya. Your mother's going to be fine." It took a few minutes to calm her back down. When she finally looked up at him her face was splotchy with tears but there was a determined look in her eyes.

"Do they think it had anything to do with…"

"No. He had no association with the ones that attacked the USJ. He was just a random villain. Like I said you're being let out of school to help her out for the rest of the day. She's going to be fine." Izumi let out a shaking breath and nodded. She checked her watch, it was an analog clock with the image of All Might in the center, his arms turned around the clock face to show the time. He would have snorted at it if the situation had been less serious and if the problem child hadn't started muttering to herself again.

"If I run I might be able to catch the train. If not I don't have enough for a cab, not all the way home…" He cut her off as he stood.

"You won't have to worry, someone's volunteered to take you home." The door opened and All Might smiled at her. It was a slightly softer smile than it normally was. She leapt to her feet and rushed to All Might. The two of them hurried out without another word. Aizawa nodded to himself, if anyone was going to handle the problem child well after a panic attack it was going to be All Might, at least she usually listened to him. He shook his head and turned back to grading papers.

When he got back to class to finish their studies for the day it was silent as a crypt. He hadn't been expecting that. There was usually at least some kind of ruckus that would die down once he entered. But not today, today it was deadly silent. It would have been welcome if it didn't feel so ominous. Uraraka looked very upset, like she'd been on the verge of tears for a while now. Bakugou looked angry, but it was different than his normal rage. This was a cold kind of anger that had everyone near him silent and looking slightly terrified. Todoroki had a full frown fixed on his face. As Aizawa stepped behind the teachers podium Iida raised his hand. Aizawa nodded.

"Sir we were wondering what has happened to Midoriya. She never returned to class after you pulled her out." Aizawa contemplated the room for a moment.

"Izumi Midoriya," the class held its breath, "was signed out due to a family emergency." The class let out a breath but most remained tensed. Iida looked almost as upset as Uraraka, despite normally being very in control of his emotions. He would be though, Aizawa thought. The last time the words 'family emergency' had been uttered around this class Tensei Iida had been attacked by the hero killer. It was still such a fresh wound, he kind of felt bad about reopening it. But he was distracted when Bakugou leapt to his feet.

"Auntie Inko's hurt!" There was righteous indignation in his voice as if he should have been the one informed of this not Izumi. The whole class stared at him. He glared at Aizawa.

"She was present when a villain attacked the hospital she works at." There were several gasps. "She sustained a minor injury, but she'll be alright. She needed help for the rest of the day. Hence why the Problem Child had to go." He set down the folder in his hands. "That actually leads us pretty well into your homework for the night. An essay on how to minimize civilian casualties." There was a collective groan from the class at the word essay. As he spoke he noted the changes in his class. Uraraka looked like she was planning something, Iida had a frown on his face but exchanged a look with Uraraka. Bakugou sat back down, the anger on his face did little to hide his concern, or the fact he was texting under his desk, likely his mother if the lack of a ping from Kirishima meant anything. The rest of them had fallen back into their comfortable level of noise, reassured that everything was going to be alright.

At the end of class Uraraka and Iida made their way up to his desk to pick up Izumi's homework. But Bakugou beat them there.

"My mom's sending me to the shitty nerds house with some shit for Auntie Inko anyway." He stuffed her papers into his bag and set off. Uraraka looked a bit disappointed. Aizawa waited until she and Iida were almost at the door before he called them back.

"Mic forgot to file this with the other pieces. See that Problem Child gets it." Uraraka lit up and nodded. She put the paper away with a distinct lack of violence and the two left. Aizawa turned back to his papers. So what if he'd slipped that piece of paper out of the packet of homework for the Problem Child when he'd seen Bakugou coming. No one had to know. After all he had a reputation to keep up.


	19. Unpleasant Reunions

**Authors Note: Someone requested that Izumi meet back up with some of the bullies who picked on her. Here goes. I looked it up to see if the two boys had names but they don't in either the show or the manga. So I just picked a couple of names. I own nothing.**

Unpleasant Reunion

It started with a text from Yaoyarozu. She wanted to hang out with the girls from the class and was wondering if anyone was free. Izumi, who'd finished her homework early, said she would love to. Uraraka was also onboard along with Jirou. The other girls were busy though. Apparently Ashido had dragged Hagakure to a tutoring session Bakugou was running. Asui was out of town with her family for the day. So at around noon Izumi pulled on her red sneakers and bid farewell to her mother.

"Be safe Izumi!"

"I will mom! Love you!"

"I love you too sweetie!" Her mother called as Izumi raced away from the house. The girls were all meeting up at a shopping district not too far away. She let herself enjoy the sunshine. It had been a while since she'd just gone out to enjoy herself. If she was honest she hadn't done this before. She'd never had friends in middle school, no one wanted to be friends with the quirkless nerd. She shook her head and kicked a rock in her way. She wasn't going to think about it. She was going to enjoy herself today.

"Deku!" The call was a bright cheerful one, nothing like how it used to be jeered at her. She liked it better this way. She waved to Uraraka who was bouncing excitedly. Neither of them noticed a pair of heads turn at the name. Yaoyarozu and Jirou showed up a few minutes later hand in hand and the girls began to wander the shops on the street. A few hours later they stopped at a small food stand for some lunch. Izumi grinned as Jirou took a quick photo of the four of them using her earphone jack to push the button so she could throw up a peace sign. Izumi stumbled as someone bumped into her. She turned to apologize but froze at the face she spotted.

The long straggly brown hair and sleezy smile belonged to one of the two boys who'd hung off Kacchan like barnacles in middle school Hatchi and Sanji. Glancing behind Hatchi Izumi saw Sanji was here too. Great, two people she'd hoped to never run into, ever again. Hatchi's smile got wider.

"Oh well if it isn't little Deku!" He said the word like it was the name of a particularly nasty bug. His sleezy smile never left his face as Sanji made his way over to them.

"Sorry for bumping into you." She made to turn away but Hatchi caught her hand.

"That's fine. So you were holding out on us all these years huh?" She shrank away as Sanji grinned from his spot by Hatchi's shoulder.

"Yeah, who knew you had such a powerful quirk. Though the way you use it, it still seems pretty useless, huh Deku?" She felt the tears rise as everything they'd ever called her rushed back into her mind.

Stupid.

Useless.

Burden.

Ugly.

"Deku!" She flinched as Uraraka grabbed her shoulder. Yaoyarozu and Jirou were standing behind the brunette, holding their completed order. Sanji stepped forward.

"Oh are these your friends from UA little Deku?" All the girls faces went dark at the way he said her nickname. It was like how Bakugou said it but worse. Yaoyarozu's eyes narrowed as she spotted the long fingers around Izumi's wrist. Her voice was cold as she spoke.

"I suggest you let her go." The look in her eyes could have rivaled Todoroki's cold glare in that moment. Hatchi dropped Izumi's wrist and she moved away from the two. She hated that she was sort of cowering behind Uraraka. Hatchi snorted.

"Ha so you still are the same useless little Deku." Uraraka bristled.

"You have no idea what you're talking about! She's saved lives and done more to help people than the two of you ever will. Back off!" The boys jerked backwards as Jirou came to stand next to Uraraka, nearly blocking Izumi from view entirely between the two of them.

"You heard the lady." The two boys looked like they were going to say something else but when Yaoyarozu stepped up to stand next to Jirou they seemed to think better of it and slunk away. The three girls turned to Izumi who took one look at them and burst into tears.

"Noooo! Deku don't cry!" Uraraka said it with tears in her own eyes. Izumi shook her head.

"No. I'm ok! It's just no one ever stood up for me like that before." Yaoyarozu gathered them all into a group hug and passed around the food as Izumi scrubbed her eyes. She gave Yaoyarozu the biggest watery smile the other girl had ever seen and Yaoyarozu ruffled the shorter girl's messy green hair. Jirou leaned on Yaoyarozu's shoulder and spoke softly so that Izumi, who'd turned to talk to Uraraka, wouldn't hear her.

"If Todoroki doesn't scoop her up soon then someone else is gonna. That smile is the cutest damn thing." Yaoyarozu nodded.

"He's working on it." Jirou raised an eyebrow and turned to see Yaoyarozu's smile. The slightly taller girl nodded to the necklace just visible at the collar of Izumi's shirt. It was a small golden crystal sun. "He said it reminds him of her smile." Jirou let out a small laugh.

"He's so cheesy! I would never have called that." The two linked hands.

"Yeah well if he'd worked up the courage to actually sign the note I'd have given him more credit." Jirou laughed and Uraraka and Izumi turned to the pair.

"What?" Jirou shook her head.

"Nothing, bit of an inside joke." Uraraka shrugged and pointed at a nearby store.

"Oh this place has really good Mochi!" The four of them made their way down the street, the altercation long forgotten by all but Izumi, who couldn't be happier that she'd finally found people who really cared about her.


	20. Confessions

**Author's Note: I'm back! School has begun so the updates may get a bit slower. I also had a block on what I wanted to do with this one. But I have returned! I own nothing.**

Confessions 

Izumi was getting quite curious. She had found several more gifts in her locker after the first one. Always accompanied by the same tiny flowers that had appeared the first time. The gifts themselves varied. The second time they appeared it was a package of expensive sweets. The next time it was a new biography of a hero that had just been released. She'd been talking about it with her friends just a few days before it appeared in her locker. She was sure that her admirer was someone in Class 1-A. They wouldn't have known about the book if it wasn't the case. But for the life of her she couldn't figure out who it was. She knew that it wasn't Kacchan. That would be ridiculous. She really hoped it wasn't Mineta. Somehow she couldn't see him sending a girl flowers like this though.

She was resolute to find out who the admierer was though, especially after this last gift. It was a pack of All Might pencils and erasers. She knew that it didn't mean much to others but it meant that whoever this was had been paying attention to her, down to the smallest detail. She hadn't had time to go shopping for school supplies lately between classes and her pencil had broken during their last class the day before the new pack appeared in her locker. It had to be someone in their class. She would find out who it was.

Shoto was nervous. He'd continued leaving small gifts in Izumi's locker. He was following his sister's advice, keeping the gifts small and personal. Iida had been quite a bit of help too. Uraraka had confronted him and now gave him her two cents as well. They were both rooting for him, both of her closest friends approved of the match. His sister and brother were both rooting for him too. But he still hadn't told her it was him leaving the gifts yet. But he was resolved that he had to. He'd overheard a few of the business class students talking about Izumi, about how pretty and powerful she was. He had thought of how he would feel seeing her with someone else and his heart had twisted and he'd nearly lost control of his fire, just managing to keep the temperature down enough to produce only some steam. He had to tell her before someone else confessed to her.

Izumi was in the library studying when Shoto approached her. Summer was coming and they had a few more tests to go but they were all looking forward to the training camp. He looked a bit nervous as he suggested that they step outside. Izumi didn't see Iida and Uraraka flash Shoto a thumbs up when she turned. He followed her out to the courtyard of the school.

"Izumi… I… I wanted to tall you something." Izumi smiled at him.

"Yes?"

"Well…" He pulled a hand out from behind his back and held it out to her. He opened it as her brows knit together in confusion. He opened his hand revealing the small bloom there. It was just like the others he'd given her. She stared at him for a moment in silence.

"It was you?" Her face had turned pink and the color was rabidly rising in her cheeks. Shoto nodded.

"It was. I… I like you a lot. I have for a while now. I wasn't sure how to tell you. But I wanted to, especially after what happened with Stain. I was so worried that I was going to lose you. I…" He trailed off as Izumi buried her head in her hands. He slowly pulled his hand back. "I'm sorry if I upset you." He made to step away but Izumi shook her head violently. She peaked at him over her hands, her face was bright red.

"I… I'm not upset Shoto! I'm actually really happy. I was hoping it was you, but you're so cool and in control all the time and I'm a complete mess." Shoto stepped forwards, forgetting his own embarrassment he gently took her hands and gently pried them away from her face.

"You're wrong. You're one of the smartest people I've ever met. You're calm under pressure, Iida would have died if you hadn't been as smart as you are. I would never have been able to accept myself if it weren't for you. Not fully. You are a beautiful person inside and out." He brushed her hair back, noticing only now that she was wearing the All Might scrunchie he'd given her, and the necklace. She smiled at him slightly, her face still very red. For another moment they just stared at each other, green into grey and blue. Then Shoto spoke again.

"The new All Might Movie is coming out this weekend. Would you like to go with me? As a date?" Izumi nodded and her blush turned crimson. Shoto smiled. "Can I walk you home tonight?" She nodded again.

It was nearly evening by the time Shoto made it home. He was grinning wider than he had in years. He'd walked Izumi home and they'd held hands the whole way. He stepped back into the house and removed his shoes, carefully placing them in their proper spot. His sister was waiting for him in the dining room. She was holding a cup of tea.

"Hello Shoto! How did it go?" He smiled at her and she smiled back. "That well?"

"We are going to the new All Might movie on Saturday." Fuyumi smiled at him a little wider and pulled him into a short hug.

"I'm glad." Neither of them noticed their father standing around the corner. He was frowning. He wasn't sure what he thought about his son dating All Might's protégé. On one hand it could be an advantageous match, her power and Shoto's would make for an exceedingly powerful grandchild to take up the hero name of the Todoroki family. On the other hand he'd met the girl. She was willful and would be hard to control. He frowned to himself and made his way down the hall as his daughter and son continued to speak. He would watch a bit longer to see what happened.


	21. The Date

**Author's Note: I own nothing. Have some short fluff.**

The Date

Shoto was nervous but he held his resolve as he approached the building. The elevator ride seemed to take forever but finally he arrived on the correct floor. He stepped up to the door, checking the flowers in his hands. He took a deep breath and knocked. The door was opened by Inko Midoriya who smiled at him and invited him inside. He accepted, apparently Izumi was finishing up with her hair. He gently turned down the offer of tea and turned as the door to his left opened and Izumi stepped out of the bathroom. Her hair was braided and she was wearing a sundress. It hit her just above her knees and was a bright green with sunflowers scattered across the skirt. The necklace he'd given her glittered at her collarbone. He smiled and held out the bouquet of roses.

"You look beautiful." She blushed and took the flowers, burring her face in them.

"You look nice too." He was dressed in grey suit pants and a white button up. Fuyumi had recommended he leave the suit jacket and vest behind as they were only going to a movie and it wouldn't be that formal. Inko smiled at them and took the flowers from Izumi.

"Here let me put these in some water while you two head out. I wouldn't want you to miss your movie. Be home before curfew." Izumi nodded and slipped on a pair of short socks and her signature red sneakers even as her mother rolled her eyes slightly. Shoto noticed that she was wearing a bit of makeup, he hadn't seen her do that before. Her lips were painted a soft pink and there was a glittery gold dust on her eyelids. He offered her his hand and the two of them made their way to the theater.

It was about halfway through the movie when Shoto noticed Izumi was shivering slightly. He'd always been very good at controlling his body temperature so he never really noticed extreme cold or heat. But it seemed to be rather chilly in the theater. He was glad Izumi was sitting on his left as he leaned closer and gently wrapped his arm around her and warmed it slightly. She jumped slightly but smiled even as her face turned bright red. She leaned into his side. He smiled and refocused on the movie. It was the story of one of All Mights more famous fights, his debut. The actor playing All Might had a shapeshifting quirk that let him approximate the look of nearly anyone, it wasn't one hundred percent accurate but it was interesting seeing someone who looked so much like his teacher on the silver screen.

After the movie ended and they had left the theater Izumi started talking. She was going over the details of the story and how well they fit with what the public knew about the actual story. The movie had definitely fictionalized a few things, as there had been a love interest who'd been created solely for the movie. She was still talking about if that had been a good choice or not when she went silent, blushing again. Shoto frowned.

"Is something wrong?" She shook her head.

"No, it's just I've been babbling and I know that can get annoying." Shoto shook his head and took her hand.

"I love hearing you talk. You have such interesting things to say. I think it was interesting. Please don't stop." She went even brighter red and smiled at him.

"But I want to know what you thought of the movie too!" She checked her watch. "I don't have to be back home until eight."

"Would you like to get dinner and talk about the movie then?" She nodded and he took her hand leading her down the way, the two of them talking about where they wanted to eat. They were so distracted with each other that neither of them noticed two familiar figures watching them leave.

Aizawa had to use his quirk on his husband or lose an eardrum when they spotted Midoriya and Todoroki coming out of the theater and holding hands. He rolled his eyes.

"Hizashi calm down." The exuberant blonde nodded and took a deep breath before bouncing slightly.

"I won the bet Shota." Aizawa rolled his eyes and shook his head slightly.

"You and All Might did yes. Midnight is going to be so disappointed." Hizashi laughed loudly as the two of them made their way into their movie.


	22. Training

**Author's Note: I know I haven't been back in a while. I've been working on some other stuff. Heavy shit just happened in my Spidergirl stuff and I'm rereading Heroes of Olympus for my Percy Jackson stuff. **

Training

Izumi had been training with All Might solo after school for a while. They always waited until the campus was at least mostly clear of students, or they went back to that same stretch of beach. It was beautiful now and every time Izumi saw it she felt a rush of pride. The sparkling water and clean sand, there was even wildlife moving back in. She had found several small crabs and other small sea critters on the beach on her morning run. But often All Might would have her swim laps for hours here in the clear water. Today was one of those days.

There were days when all Todoroki wanted to do was get away form his father so that's what he did. He would go on long runs early in the morning, run any errands needed, anything to get out of that house. But it was never enough. More and more often lately he'd slipped off to see Izumi. Seeing her made him happy. Made him feel like he was more than just some prized specimen in an experiment, like he did around his father. He never ran the same route. Being the son of the number two hero certainly came with its perks but it also came with some dangers as his father had always beaten into him. He could never become predictable. Shouto couldn't help but notice that Natsuo and Fuyumi never got the same talk. So he ran new routes. Today he decided he would go for a beach run. It was beautiful. His sister had been talking about the beach for a while now.

Apparently it had been an unofficial dumping ground for years. People would dump their trash here without regard. Then almost a year ago someone had started cleaning it up. They'd finished in just under six weeks. But no one ever came forward. From all appearances they did it just to do it. It really was a beautiful stretch of beach. He paused to catch his breath and frowned slightly. Someone was swimming out in the ocean, and a tall man was standing on the small dock. He had bright blonde hair and he was nearly skeletal. Todoroki shrugged as he stretched. Then he spotted a very familiar head of green hair popping out of the water. He knew that curly green hair. He frowned as she spoke to the man on the end of the pier. He was too far away to hear what they were saying but she nodded at the man and dove back into the water and made another long circuit of this section of the beach. She hadn't spotted him yet. He frowned again. Something about the man on the pier was vaguely familiar. But he didn't have time to question it as Midoriya must have spotted him. She waved from the water and swam up to the shore. He blushed slightly as he realized she was in a swimsuit. It was a tasteful one piece, in bright blues and reds, it looked a little like All Might's costume. But not the one he currently wore.

"Hi Shouto!" He blinked and looked away the blush on his cheeks burning slightly. "I haven't seen you around here before!"

"Hello Izumi. I was on a morning run. I like to change routes every so often. Do you swim here often?" Izumi ran her fingers through her hair.

"Every once in a while, yeah! It's really nice out here huh?" He nodded as she smiled. "I like to switch up my training too."

"That's smart." He frowned slightly over her shoulder at the man still on the pier, he now had his back turned to them and Shouto still couldn't place why he looked familiar. Izumi sidestepped slightly her feet still in the surf. Her mass of curly wet hair blocked the man from view and she grinned at him again, but she looked nervous. Like she sometimes did when she realized that she'd been babbling about quirks again.

"Who's that?" She went pink, her hand rubbing the back of her neck.

"Oh that's my … uncle! He's a personal trainer. He's been helping me keep in shape." She was still bright pink though. He couldn't help but feel like she wasn't telling him the whole truth. Then she suddenly brightened and he couldn't help the slight smile on his face.

"Oh mom asked me this morning to invite you over for dinner! Would you be interested. You don't have to if you don't want." He took her hand and gently kissed the back of it.

"I would love to Izumi. My sister wants to meet you soon too." She went bright pink and hid behind her hands. He smiled. She was so cute when she was flustered.

"Great! Tomorrow night at seven?" Todoroki nodded.

"I'd like that." Izumi nodded. "Will your uncle be there?" The pink in her cheeks drained so fast he almost blinked and missed it.

"No. Ummm… mom doesn't actually know he's helping me keep in shape. They don't talk much." Todoroki frowned slightly but if anyone understood that families had issues it was him.

"That's fine. Tomorrow at seven?" She nodded, her smile returning. He called it a victory. "I'll see you then." He took her hand and gently kissed the back of it again. She went red as a tomato. He smiled. "I won't keep you from your training any longer. I'll see you in class tomorrow." She grinned and took off down the pier. She stopped at the edge to stretch and speak to her uncle before diving off the end and continuing her laps. He shook his head. They did look a little bit similar in the way they held themselves but he couldn't help but think that maybe there was something else going on. He shook his head and took back off on his run.

Yagi Toshinori let out a long sigh that had been too close. Izumi popped up in the water by his knee.

"Sorry about that All Might. I wasn't expecting Shouto to show up here. I haven't seen him around here before!" Toshinori shook his head.

"It's fine Young Midoriya. That was some quick thinking on your part though. What did you tell him anyway?" She went tomato red.

"That you're my uncle." It was nearly a whisper. "I'm sorry it was the only thing I could think of." He let out a short laugh.

"It's fine Young Midoriya. I don't mind. It was quite clever of you. Very quick thinking, one of the marks of a good hero." She beamed at him. "Back to your laps now!" She nodded and dove back into action, swimming faster than she had been. He shook his head slightly. He couldn't help but contemplate the two young heroes. They could not be more opposite.

Young Todoroki was reserved, often cold, though he seemed to be opening up much more since the sports festival. He had grown far closer to Young Iida and Young Midoriya after everything that had happened with Stain. The three of them made a deadly effective team in training. They almost didn't have to talk to each other anymore, reading emotions and body language on the fly. And of course a week ago Midnight had approached him and pulled him aside before handing him 16,000 yen.

"Your winnings from the pool. Shouta and Hizashi confirmed it, Midoriya and Todoroki are dating. Long odds won out." She looked a bit grumpy about it. He'd blinked at her and accepted his winnings, calling up Grand Torino later that day to get the information to send him his cut, as it had been his idea to put the bet down initially.

"Ha! I knew it! The way he looks at her its obvious! How are you holding up with your protégé dating the son of your rival." He honestly didn't know. Enji Todoroki had always been a very cold person for someone who spent most of his time on fire. He wasn't sure about Shouto yet but looking at his face as he looked at Izumi Toshinori could see that his mentor was right.

Shouto Todoroki looked at Izumi Midoriya like she was something precious. But he respected her power, often deferring to her in training when they were paired together. He also didn't pull his punches when they were up against each other. She had drawn out the flame in this boy, quite literally, and it didn't look like that fire was going out any time soon.


	23. Meeting the Family

**Author's Note: Ok so here's a kind of fluffy bit of fun! I own nothing. **

Meet The Family

Shoto had met Inko Midoriya twice before briefly. But tonight he was dining at the Midoriya household and he was a little nervous. He knew better than to bring up Inko's husband, who if Bakugou had been accurate had left the small family years ago. He also supposed that it was a bad idea to bring up the uncle who was helping Izumi train. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door to the apartment. It was Izumi who opened the door. She looked very pretty, in a simple yellow dress, her All Might hair pins in their usual spot. She smiled at him and accepted the bouquet of roses he offered her. He had a separate set of sunflowers for her mother. Fuyumi had told him it would be a good idea. She had also advised him against wearing a full suit. It was just a casual dinner after all.

"Hi Shoto! Please come in! Mom's finishing up in the kitchen. I'm going to put these in some water. Make yourself comfortable!" He nodded and set down his jacket on the back of the couch. Izumi disappeared into the kitchen. Shoto made to follow her but paused as he spotted a picture on the wall. It was of a much younger Izumi. She was wearing an All Might onesie, her bright green hair sticking out all around her face since the hood was pulled up. She was grinning at the camera from the arms of a man Shoto didn't recognize. He was tall with bright white hair, he looked almost nothing like his daughter, except they both had the spray of freckles shaped distinctly like a diamond on their cheeks. It had to be her father. He glanced at another of the photos. In this one it was Inko holding the child Midoriya who was holding up an All Might doll in triumph as if she had just found all the answers to the universe questions. He couldn't help the smile that tugged at his mouth. She was just too cute.

"Dinner is almost ready!" He turned and came face to face with the girl herself. Still just as adorable her green eyes still shining with a light he couldn't quite identify. She blushed as she looked over his shoulder at the photos on the wall.

"Oh those aren't even the best photos of Izumi as a kid." Inko smiled at them from the kitchen. The apartment was tiny in comparison to the Todoroki household but Shoto preferred it. There was a feeling of home here, one he couldn't find at home. There were no pictures of him and his siblings up on the walls at home. Izumi went bright red.

"Mom!" Inko giggled.

"I'd like to see them." Shoto said, quietly almost to himself but Inko grinned wider.

"I'll pull out the photo albums after dinner!" Izumi's protests were half hearted at best as they gathered around the table. The three of them ate cold soba and talked about their plans after high school and Inko's job at the hospital. She was a nurse, and spent her time helping people when she wasn't at home. It was Inko who brought up Izumi's father.

"He's still abroad, he works in America in marketing!" Izumi's smile became forced. Shoto changed the subject quickly.

"Was it because of your mother that you wanted to become a hero?" The question made both of them blush but Izumi shrugged.

"That was part of it." Inko smiled at her daughter knowingly.

"All Might was most of it though. Do you still watch that video?" Izumi went even brighter red. Shoto raised an eyebrow. Inko went on. "When All Might first made his debut he saved so many people at once, the news got a video of it. It was all Izumi wanted to watch as a kid. She'd watch it every night. I always thought it was a little scary." Izumi began to gather the dishes. Shoto nodded.

"I remember that video." She looked up at him. "My mother and I watched that news cast together. She thought it was a little scary too if I remember right. I wanted to be like All Might and save as many people as I could." The light in Izumi's eyes twinkled.

"Exactly!" Shoto helped her gather the dishes and carry them the short distance into the kitchen. He offered to help her clean them too but she shooed him to the couch with her mother who had pulled out the photo albums as promised. They spent the next hour or so going through the photos and laughing at the stories Inko told about Izumi as a child. All too soon for Shoto's tastes it was time for him to head home. Izumi walked him to the door and offered to walk him out of the apartment. He shook his head and took her hand in his laying a kiss to the back of it. She went so red for a moment he was worried she would burst into flames. But she didn't and she smiled at him, the smile that made his stomach to flip flops.

"My sister has invited you to dinner next week at my house." She nodded.

"I would love to be there!" He nodded and pressed a final kiss to the back of her hand, just to see that smile on her face again before he left.

The door clicked closed behind Shoto and Izumi let out a giddy laugh spinning on the spot and blushing again as she spotted her mother in the door to the hall.

"I like him Izumi. He seems like the perfect gentleman." Izumi nodded holding her hands over her heart and spinning on the spot again.

"I like him too!" Her mother laughed and pulled her into a hug.


End file.
